


She Always Gets What She Wants

by Rumor_tAdA



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Bickering, Cheating, Childish, Drama, F/M, Fighting, Jealousy, Romance, Selfish, lying
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-26
Updated: 2014-06-06
Packaged: 2017-12-24 18:16:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 38,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/943110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rumor_tAdA/pseuds/Rumor_tAdA
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brittany Way is a spoiled brat who always gets what she wants. At least that's the way Frank sees her.<br/>Why does Frank hate his best friend's younger sister? Is she really devil's spawn as he likes to think or does some of the blame for the ongoing war between them fall on him?<br/>Gerard is sick and tired of being stuck in the middle and so is the rest of the band, but will these two ever kiss and make up?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The story starts out pretty slowly, but the first chapters only provide the background. It gets a lot better.

I’m sure you all know what little sisters are like. They’re a real pain in the butt to be completely honest. They go through your stuff and probably steal it too. They’re tattle-tales and always get you into trouble. That’s not even all of it. Naturally, they also bother you when your friends are around or, worst of all, they sneak in on you and your girlfriend making out in your bedroom, only to run off and tell your mom about it. When something in your room is broken, your little sister normally did it. And people wonder why there is such a thing as sibling rivalry. They’re little demons to say the least.  
I’m Frank Iero. I don’t have a little sister. I’m an only child; thank heavens. My best friend, Gerard Way, however, does have a little sister. She’s five years younger than he is and thus four years younger than I am. She’s obviously a major irritation. Since we were little kids, she always annoyed the living hell out of us.  
When we were younger than ten and she was still wearing diapers, she used to stuff our toys in her mouth and we’d cry about it. Since then, we always kept her at a distance. Girls and babies were from the devil – in our eyes anyway. We all grew up a little, but things never changed.  
The older we grew, the more of a menace she became. Whenever I was over at Gerard’s, she would always come over to us and we’d just run away like little kids do. She’d run to her mom and cry and we’d get into trouble, but we’d only do it again the next day. We’d play in the mud and she’d run and tell her mom. We’d climb a tree and when one of us fell, she’d run and tell her mom. Her whiny little voice had a way of crawling under my skin. Imagine having a little snot-nosed kid running after you every day. It’s torture. She always wanted our candy and cried when we wouldn’t share. She was six back then.  
One day Gerard and I heard a loud crash in the living room. We sprinted into the room and saw that she had broken her mom’s favorite vase. Gerard was furious and scolded her for it. Of course their mom came in at that moment… wait for it… little miss perfect started crying and put all the blame on us! I still remember that day’s beating. The worst was that after our beating she skipped into the room, smiling at us sweetly and waving her lollipop in our faces. I had an absolute hatred for her since that day and we pretty much declared war against her.  
Soon, she started going to school and then also bringing her friends home. I was surprised to find that her friends weren’t as bad as she was – some of them were actually cute, as little kids of course, but I still didn’t like them: they were friends of the devil.  
At this point you probably think I have issues or that I’m jealous, but she really was evil. Why else would she run into the room and kick your shin for no reason whatsoever or feed your lunch to the dogs? Her and her friends put dirt in our shoes, drew pictures on our homework, teased us about everything and always acted smarter. Gerard and I reached high school and, believe it or not, things got worse. Gerard and I were like brothers and were inseparable. We were always over at each other’s houses. He’d spend one weekend over at my house and the next I’ll be over at his house. We did everything together of course getting into trouble as well, which we also did quite a lot. We weren’t bad kids, but we weren’t saints either.  
Sometime when we were fourteen or fifteen, Gerard burst into my house furiously. His sister had walked in on him and his girlfriend making out and ran to their mom. The latter then gave him an entire speech on the birds and the bees. He had never been so angry or embarrassed in his life.  
I wasn’t her brother, but she also got on my every last nerve. The middle school was right across the street from our high school and she caught me and my girlfriend making out too. She laughed at us and told my girlfriend a bunch of bullshit, pretending to be all sweet and innocent.  
One day she caught Gerard and I smoking. Needless to say we got into a shit load of trouble with our parents.  
A year or two later things changed if only a little. For some strange reason, Gerard had gotten a protective instinct towards his little sister. She still annoyed him, as is natural for a younger sibling, but otherwise they actually got along pretty well. That was it for the changes. She and I still didn’t get along. It was like she was born to make my life a living hell. She even went as far as snapping my guitar strings when I forgot my guitar at Gerard’s house one night.  
First, Gerard graduated and finally I did too, then I was off to college. I was relieved, because I wouldn’t have to see her again for a very long time, since my college was in another city. We originally lived in Belleville, but I was on my way to New York. Things were going to be great. However, I only studied for a year and a couple of months before dropping out of college to start a band. My parents were upset at first, but eventually accepted it and wished me the best of luck.  
Gerard finished his studies, getting his degree and also finding a job. Later my band folded and I had nothing else. Since I didn’t finish college, I didn’t have a degree and now I also didn’t have a job. The band hadn’t done well enough for me to have some spare money to live off either, thus I was in a little bit of trouble. To top it all off, my girlfriend dumped me so, all in all, everything was falling apart. That was until I got a call from Gerard.  
He still lived in Belleville with his parents and took the train into the city every day for work. I haven’t really been in Belleville for the past four years unless it was to visit my parents. Gerard called and told me that he was starting a band. Since I had told him about my band splitting, he thought it would be great if I joined them. I didn’t have anything else to lose and it would be great to spend some real time with my best friend again. I only ever really wanted to be in a band anyway. This time it might just work out. So, I packed my things and was on my way back to Belleville.


	2. Chapter 2

It’s been a couple of weeks since my band split and it wasn’t going too great. I was surviving, but only just. Gerard called me the day before and asked me to join his band – he was starting one of his own. I didn’t really have anything to lose, since I didn’t have a job or a girlfriend and I decided to go for it.   
At this moment I was rummaging through my closet and throwing all my clothes on my bed. Most of them were too dirty to wear and the rest were close to that. I had to get everything washed before packing them. It was going to be the Laundromat and me for the next couple of hours.   
I packed all the clothes in a large black garbage bag before trudging down the stairs. I stopped at the receptionist’s desk to get change and then continued to the Laundromat about three blocks away. I couldn’t really afford a cab and walked the distance. Fortunately the place was empty and I had all the machines to my disposal. I put all my jeans in one machine and T-shirts in another. Everything else went together in a third washing machine. It would take about an hour for everything to be washed and I walked to the nearest Starbucks to get some coffee.   
On return, I waited. When the washing machines were done, I put all the clothes in dryers and waited forty more minutes. Then I began my walk back to the apartment. Once there, I folded everything and stuffed them into bags – I was definitely not going to bother to iron them too: I’ll do that back home when I want to wear them.   
I grabbed my backpack from the floor and stuffed it with my CD’s, I-pod and anything else valuable.   
The apartment looked a mess to say the least. I used the bag I had stuffed the dirty laundry into earlier and threw all the rubbish and shit lying about in it and placed it by the door. At least now I could walk around without the fear of breaking a leg. I also threw out everything in my kitchen cupboards that had expired, which was almost everything. I was on a roll, even wiping the kitchen surfaces clean: my mom would have been so proud.   
By the time I was done cleaning and packing, it was time for dinner. I walked to the nearest food stand and bought a really greasy hotdog. I watched some programs on my television and fell asleep on the couch.  
I woke up with a start the next morning and remembered with a shock that I was supposed to meet Gerard at his parents’ house for lunch.   
I rushed into the bathroom to take a shower and brush my teeth. I quickly showered and walked over to the basin to brush my teeth. I realized how little attention I have been paying to my appearance these past couple of weeks the second I looked in the mirror. My hair reached my neck and I had an at least two week old beard. I rummaged through the bathroom cabinet until I found my razor.   
An hour later, I was on my way to a bus station. I took the first bus to Belleville, arriving at home a little before lunch. I headed to my house first: one – to drop off my things and second – to greet my parents. I walked into the house and found my mom in the kitchen. She looked up and was surprised to see me standing in the doorway.  
“Frank?” She smiled happily and came over hugging the life out of me. “It’s so good to see you again! We’ve missed you!”  
“I missed you too, Mom,” I replied, hugging her back.  
“You look good,” she said truthfully.  
My insides sighed in relief. I only shaved this morning and looked pretty much like my old self, except for the longer hair, but that didn’t bother me. My body didn’t change either – I didn’t lose weight or gained any, though I did gain a few more muscles, which was of course a good thing. I didn’t want to look like a schoolboy. Then there were also my lip and nose piercings and the tattoos: they were on my arms. Either my mom didn’t notice or she didn’t mind or she knew that saying something wouldn’t make a difference.  
“You too, Mom: the new hair and clothes,” I smiled.  
She chuckled, “Yes, I thought it was time for a change.”  
It wasn’t a major change, since my mom wasn’t young anymore. She had only dyed her hair their natural color, covering the grays and bought some new clothes.  
“You’re just in time for lunch,” she informed me.  
“Sorry, I can’t stay for lunch. I have to meet Gerard at his parents’ house for lunch,” I said. “He asked me to join his new band and we’re going to discuss it.”  
“Oh,” she said surprised. “I didn’t know that he was staring a band too.”  
I smiled, “Yes, and his timing is impeccable.”  
She nodded, “Yes, I’m sure you haven’t found a new job yet, since your previous band split.”  
I noticed the worry in her voice.  
“Mom, you don’t have to worry about me. I can take care of myself,” I assured her. “As you can see, I’m alive and well. I won’t go down that easily.”  
“What if Gerard’s band doesn’t work out either?” she wanted to know.  
“Let’s just hope it does. If it doesn’t, I’ll just find something else.”  
“I don’t want you jumping around from one thing to another,” she said.  
“Don’t worry,” I told her again. “I’m sure things will work out perfectly. Now, I have to run or I’ll be late.”  
I kissed her forehead and ran out the door. Hopefully the future ahead will be brighter.


	3. Chapter 3

Gerard only lived three houses down the street from my house and it was a quick walk. I knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. After a few seconds, the door opened. I did a double take seeing the person who answered the door. It was a beautiful young blonde girl with piercing jade eyes.  
“Can I help you?” she asked.  
“I’m here for Gerard,” I answered.  
Her eyes grew wide and then a smile came onto her face. It wasn’t a friendly smile. As soon as that spiteful look crossed her face, I was shocked to realize who it was. It was Brittany Way, Gerard’s sister.  
“Come on in, Frank,” she said sweetly.  
I walked past her without another word or as much as another glance. I made my way into the kitchen and saw Gerard putting lunch on the table. Brittany came into the kitchen shortly after me and laid plates out on the table.  
“Frank!” Gerard said happily. “I nearly thought you weren’t coming anymore.”  
I smiled, “Sorry about being late. I overslept and had a few last minute things to do.”  
I heard a tsk-tsk-sound and saw Brittany shaking her head. I sighed: I wasn’t even back yet and already she was starting.  
“It’s so good to see you again,” Gerard continued.  
“Tell me about it. It’s been too long,” I agreed.  
We sat down, dishing up. It went quickly and we soon started to stuff our faces, because Gerard was a good cook.  
“Things are going to be huge,” Gerard said excitedly. “If we can get signed and start recording soon, who knows, we can be on tour within a matter of months.”  
“It’ll take a lot of hard work,” I chuckled.  
“Naturally,” he said, “But I’m still very excited about it.”  
I nodded.  
“Especially now that you’re going to be joining us,” he said.  
Brittany choked on her food causing us to look at her. She cleared her throat before looking at us confused.  
“What?” she asked hoarsely.  
“Oh yeah, I haven’t told you yet. Frank is joining the band,” Gerard informed her.  
“Why?” she asked, still confused. “I thought he was doing so well in New York.”  
“I’m doing fine,” I said definitely.  
“You know Frank is my best friend and I want him to be a part of everything,” Gerard explained.   
“Right,” she mumbled.  
“Just think about how great it will be,” I told her sweetly. “We’ll see each other a lot and it’ll be like old times!”  
“Oh yeah,” she agreed, also faking excitement. “It’s going to be just great! Just great,” she finished sarcastically.  
Gerard laughed, “Okay, I know you guys don’t really get along, but don’t you think that’s enough sarcasm for one day?”  
“You mean one conversation,” Brittany said.  
“Okay, but let’s finish lunch in peace?” he tried again.  
“Oh, what’s wrong? Are you afraid I’ll stab your best friend?” she asked bitterly.  
“No, I’m afraid he’ll slit your throat,” Gerard said and I cracked up.  
She looked at Gerard resentfully before staring at me murderously.  
“Oh come on, Brit, I was only joking,” Gerard chuckled.  
“Excuse me. I’ll go eat my lunch somewhere else,” she said getting up, taking her plate and leaving the kitchen.  
“She hasn’t changed one bit,” I noticed.  
We finished lunch and then started to wash the dishes.  
“Dude, I think your sister has a split personality,” I said and he looked at me questioningly.  
“Think about it. When she’s with me, she’s such a bitch, but when she’s with you she’s all nice and sweet and innocent,” I explained.  
Gerard laughed, “Brittany is everything but sweet and innocent. I think that kind of shoots your theory down the drain.”  
“How else do you explain it then?” I asked.  
We were so engrossed in our conversation that we didn’t even notice her standing in the doorway. When she entered the kitchen I immediately stopped talking. She stared at me with daggers as she passed me. After she handed Gerard her dishes, she left without saying a word. I started laughing.  
“I really don’t know what your problem with each other is,” Gerard stated. “It’s been years. You’ve both grown up and you’ve both changed. I honestly think that you’ll get along really well if you just get to know each other a little better. Brittany is really cool. She’s the type of girl you’d like.”  
I laughed even harder, “Dude, honestly, we’ve never gotten along and I don’t think we ever will. Besides, she’ll never give it a chance getting to know me better.”  
“Maybe you should change your cynical attitude towards her,” he said firmly.  
I kind of felt sorry for him, considering that he was stuck in the middle. It must suck if your sister and your best friend were constantly at each other’s throats.  
I sighed, “Okay.”  
He looked at me expectantly.  
“I’ll try to change my attitude towards her,” I told him. “But I’m not promising anything,” I added quickly.  
He grinned broadly, “Thanks man. I knew I could count on you.”  
“Of course, what are best friends for? Hey, by the way, where’s Mikey?”  
“Good question, but my guess is that he’s over at Syd’s house.”  
“Syd?” I asked, eyebrow cocked.  
“Yeah, she’s Mikey’s girlfriend. They started dating about three weeks ago and we’ve barely seen Mikey since. He’s constantly spending time with her. You’d think the end of the world is near,” he explained.  
“Ah, well, I’m happy for him,” I smiled. “Good old Mikes. I’ve actually missed him too. He’ll be in the band, right?”  
“Of course,” Gerard grinned. “Now I just need to persuade Brittany to join as well.”  
“Hell no!” I exclaimed. “If you do that, I quit here and now!”  
The raven-haired male cracked up, “I’m only messing with you! Don’t worry, Brit won’t join the band. It’s not her scene. Besides, she’ll never join the band now that she knows you’re a member.”  
“Good,” was all I replied.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brittany's side of the feud.

Brittany's POV  
I always loved my brothers a lot. We were all best friends. The thing is that Gerard also had another brother besides Mikey and I. It wasn’t a blood brother, but his best friend, Frank, has always been in the picture since even before I was born. The two of them were inseparable. Maybe I was jealous, who knew, but I disliked Frank for a various amount of reasons.  
First of all, and probably the most important reason, he kept my brother and I from bonding. Of course it wasn’t on purpose, but it was his fault, since he took up all of my brother’s time. Second of all, he was always mean to me, since I could remember. Lastly, my brother changed when Frank was around.  
Gerard was always a good guy and naturally a good brother, but whenever Frank was around, Gerard always took his side over mine, like it didn’t even matter that I was his little sister. Mikey was always on my side, but that’s not the point. Gerard was never mean to me, but Frank was.  
I wouldn’t exactly call what went on between Frank and I a cold war since it actually consisted of physical actions and a lot of verbal abuse. The last time I had seen Frank was when I was fourteen and back then he normally just ignored me unless I really pissed him off, then he would swear and yell at me which gave me all the more reason to taunt him. I’ll admit, sometimes I did take things too far, like one time when I kicked him for no reason at all, but I was a little kid.  
I remember one time when I accidentally broke my mom’s favorite vase. The guys came running into the room and Gerard, seeing what I had done, scolded me. I was already a little shaken from the shock of dropping the thing and then I was scared to death of getting scolded by my mom too. I started crying and instinctively blamed it on them. They got a really terrible beating and hated me for it. I felt extremely guilty and bad, but when I tried to be nice to them afterwards, they just shunned me.  
There were plenty of other incidents they would probably put all the blame on me for being a bitch, but a lot of the times I did what I thought was right, like when I told my mom that I had caught them smoking. What they were doing was wrong, not that it helped, because I know Gerard was still smoking today and most probably Frank too. Anyway, it’s needless to say that I was happy when Frank moved to New York. It gave Gerard and I time to get close, which we did. Like I said, we were best friends now.  
It was a shock when I opened the door that afternoon and saw Frank standing there. I didn’t think I would ever have to see him again: it has been four years. I nearly didn’t recognize him. His appearance had changed completely over the past four years. He didn’t look like the high school boy anymore: he gained some weight – not fat, but muscles – which made him look really good. He bore multiple tattoos on his arms: his left arm looking like a sleeve of tattoos. His hair was longer and he had piercings through his nose and bottom lip. In all honesty, he looked hot.  
As expected, he still didn’t like me and quite frankly the feeling was mutual. We bitched each other since the second he stepped foot inside the house. Everything was just like before, including my brother taking his side, which hurt. Maybe I was always going to have to be satisfied with being second most important. I hated that, because Gerard was my brother, not Frank’s. Frank was an asshole anyway, because no matter how hard I sometimes tried to be nice, he was always mean to me. I’m not saying that I’m the innocent victim; hell knows I’m not, but would it kill him to be nice to me when I was making an effort. Honestly, it really was an effort for me to be nice to him so he could just appreciate it a little. Things were going to get rough.  
Before Frank left four years ago, we already couldn’t stand each other and back then we had petty-fights. I was eighteen now and could fight back properly and not with little childish whims. I was older and wiser. I could fight him with my brains, which I’m sure I had more of. If we started a real argument, things could get ugly: I could only imagine what we’d say to each other. Thinking about it, it seemed that it could be exciting really. Then again, we both grew older and wiser. Maybe the bitching over lunch was just a reflex. If we got to know each other a little better, we might just get along.  
Yeah right. I scratched that idea as soon as I heard Frank gossiping about me to my brother. He was an asshole: end of story. If he wanted a war then that’s what he was going to get.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The band finally gets signed.

Frank's POV  
The next couple of weeks were rough as we were writing songs and trying to record them and everything. I met the rest of the band. Mikey, Gerard’s little brother, was our bass, Ray Toro our lead guitarist and Matt Pelissier our drummer. I was rhythm and Gerard was vocals. After about the second week, the guys all got used to Brittany and me fighting and accepted that we simply hated each other.   
Things definitely didn’t just suddenly get any better. We worked long days and late nights trying to finish writing out songs. The past two weeks have been hell, as we spent all night up, burning our songs onto CD’s. We barely got any sleep and then set about handing them out to people in order to get our music out. Maybe if enough people heard it and liked it, we’d have a better chance. Tensions were running high and we were all in desperate need of some decent rest. However, all of us knew that everything was necessary if we wanted to make a success and get our band going. We had to keep working hard.   
My parents were worried about my health, but I assured them that everything was fine. Just a couple more weeks and things would be better. Things were tough since none of us had a job or an income. We stayed positive and motivated though.   
It’s been about two months and all of us were slouched around in Gerard’s living room. Mikey and Matt were fast asleep on two of the couches. Gerard and I were trying to concentrate on burning more disks and Ray went to get us some more coffee. We’ve become caffeine addicts, living off coffee and energy drinks.  
“This is the last one ever,” I stated. “I’m sick and tired of burning disks!”  
Gerard wiped a hand over his tired face, “I want to agree with this being the last, but we can’t stop now. We’ve come this far.”  
I sighed exasperated, because he was right. We’d come too far to give up now. I slightly jumped when Gerard’s phone suddenly rang. He answered it groggily.  
“Hello… Yes, this is he… We have…”  
He listened for a minute or so and then his eyes grew wide.  
“Yeah, we don’t have any plans… One thirty… Sure, okay… We’ll be there.”  
With that he hung up, a shocked yet excited expression on his face.  
“Gerard!” I said, snapping my fingers in front of his face. “Who was that?”  
“Uhm,” he said looking slightly confused. “It was someone from a record company called Eyeball Records. They heard our CD and wanted to know if we would like to sign a record deal.”  
“What???” I gasped. “That’s awesome!!! Shit, it’s about fucking time!!” I exclaimed excitedly.  
Gerard and I were so excited that we immediately awoke the other guys and told them the good news.  
“He wants to meet us tomorrow afternoon at one thirty to discuss everything,” Gerard informed us.  
“It’s perfect!” Mikey said excitedly.  
“Finally we’ll get some well deserved and desperately needed sleep,” Ray muttered causing everyone to laugh.  
“Ray’s right. We all need to go home, have a decent meal and get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us,” Gerard said seriously.  
Everyone nodded and said their goodbyes before heading home.

*

The next day came by fast and soon we were all seated in a restaurant talking to the guy who had our future resting in his hands.  
“You are all willing to sign the contract,” he checked and all of us gave a positive reply. “Perfect,” he smiled. “Basically the contract contains all the important stipulations necessary. You will also sign a statement that the music is yours and that you didn’t steal or copy it from anyone. We don’t want to get in trouble that could have been easily avoided.”  
All of us nodded in understanding.  
“Well, you’ll come by the studio tomorrow morning and the big boss or at least a person higher up in the business than me will give you a listen and if all is good, you’ll be signing immediately,” he explained.  
As told, we were at the studio the next day playing our songs. We waited around anxiously for the final decision and were thrilled when we got the go ahead. We immediately got signed and were welcomed.  
“To a prosperous career,” Brian, our new manager, said smiling.  
We could all definitely drink to that. Afterwards we all returned home. I told my mom the good news and she was really happy for me.  
“We have to celebrate. I’ll cook you your favorite meal and everything,” she said excitedly.  
I know my mom wasn’t always thrilled with the idea of me being in a band, but whenever I reached even a small bit of success, she was sincerely happy for me.  
“Why not,” I smiled. “The guys and I are only going to celebrate it tomorrow.”  
“Perfect,” she exclaimed.  
To my surprise, my mom also invited my dad. My parents got divorced when I was younger. We actually had a decent family dinner: everyone talking and laughing, like old times.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight between Frank and Brittany reaches a climax from which there is no going back...

I walked into Gerard’s house late the next afternoon. I was going to catch a ride with him and we were going to meet up with the other guys to celebrate the fact that our band finally got signed after months of hard work.  
“Gerard?” I called out, but didn’t receive a response.  
After checking the kitchen, I walked along the hallway to his room, which was also empty. I sighed, turning around. I stopped when I heard music coming from another room down the hall. It came from the bedroom at the end of the hall, Brittany’s. I knocked on the door, but when she didn’t respond, I pushed the door open. She was sitting on her bed, reading a book and quietly singing along to the music. I immediately recognized Linkin Park.  
“Brittany,” I said.  
She looked up and frowned, “Don’t you knock?”  
“I did,” I said defensively. “You didn’t respond.”  
“So you just took the liberty of entering? What are you doing in here anyway?” she asked slightly annoyed.  
“I was supposed to meet Gerard here, but he’s out,” I said. “We are going out to celebrate our success.”  
“Why are you in my room?” she asked more specifically.  
“Oh, I was curious when I heard the music,” I shrugged.  
“Gerard’s out,” she stated the obvious.  
“I know.”  
“Feel free to wait for him in the kitchen or living room,” she subtly asked me to leave.  
I smiled, “Mind if I wait here?”  
“Actually, I do,” she said bluntly.  
I started to look around her room. I was impressed to see band posters up on her walls. There were also pictures hung on the wall.  
“You know, just because you got signed, doesn’t mean you’ve reached success,” she told me.  
“I know. We all do, but it’s a start. Getting signed is a major confidence boost. We got a chance, now we just have to make the best of it.”  
“Wise words coming from you,” she mumbled.  
“I’m not a complete idiot you know,” I said sharply. “We’ll have to work hard. The next few years are going to be rough, but I’m ready for that. You have a nice room.”  
“I used to,” she said. “Until you came into the picture.”  
“I know! Now it’s great! I was just the thing it needed to be perfect,” I said cockily.  
“Do you mind? You’re ruining my day,” she said straightforward.  
“I wish you could be honest with yourself, babe. You know you love me,” I mocked, turning around and heading for the door.  
“You know, Frank! You think you’re hot shit, but guess what! You’re not!!!” she yelled.  
I turned around and she was standing right behind me. I firmly grabbed her by her shoulders, not so to hurt her, and pressed her against the wall.  
“You have no idea what I think,” I said lowly.  
Her eyes were wide with shock and for once she didn’t say anything. I crashed my lips to hers, kissing her hard. She grabbed the front of my shirt and pushed me away forcefully.   
“Damn, I hate you!” she snarled and then our lips immediately reconnected.   
She kissed me back hard. Her arms automatically snaked around my neck.  
“Frank,” she mumbled into my mouth after a while.  
I just kissed her harder. She grabbed my hair and suddenly yanked my head back.  
“Fuck!” I swore loudly.  
She smirked at my outburst.  
“What if Gerard walks in on us?” she asked.  
“I don’t care,” I growled.  
She seemed to like my response, because the look in her eyes turned to one of lust and the grin on her face grew. She pushed me back and my back hit the wall hard.  
“Let’s see if you’re all talk,” she muttered before crashing her lips to mine.  
I soon had my way and we were lying on her bed, making out furiously. She grabbed the hem of my shirt, tugging upwards. We broke the kiss just long enough to pull my shirt over my head. She tossed it to a corner before wrapping her arms back around my neck. The next thing I knew, I was lying on my back and she was straddling me. A mischievous smirk played on her face and her eyes were burning. She stared at my tattoos in awe and then slowly dragged her hands down my bare chest down to my pants before starting to fumble with the button and zipper, while all the while kissing me. She let go of the front of my pants and started trailing kisses down my jaw, pausing for a second in my neck and then moving down my chest.  
I helped her get rid of my pants and before I could even blink, she had already pulled down my boxers as well and then… My head hit the pillow and my eyes rolled back into my head in pleasure. The girl knew what she was doing.  
As soon as she was finished, I rolled us over and it was my turn. I nibbled down her neck and planted kisses on every piece of bare skin I could find. She sat up and grabbed my face, crashing out lips together. We both fought for dominance, neither wanting to give in.  
Finally, the young blonde female took control by rolling us over to be on top again and then pushing me down. I used to think I was a tease, but this girl took it to a whole new level…

*

“That was…” I started, but stopped mid-sentence as I realized that I didn’t have the words to describe it.  
Brittany turned on her side so she was facing me and smiled. It was probably the first genuine smile she’s ever given me and it was beautiful. If she always smiled at me like that, I could totally fall for this girl.  
“So how many guys have you been with?” I questioned curiously.  
I wasn’t trying to be a dick, but this definitely couldn’t have been her first time.  
“What?” she asked, looking at me surprised.  
I chuckled, “Come on, Brittany. This obviously wasn’t your first time. I’m just curious about the list of guys you’ve slept with.”  
“First of all, I’m not a slut,” she stated firmly. “I’m not just going to jump into bed with any random guy – you’re the exception, but you were driving me crazy,” she slightly breathed.  
I smirked in satisfaction.  
“I mean that in a non positive way,” she added.   
“And second of all,” I continued for her. “I still want to know…”  
“No,” she refused, covering her face. “That’s embarrassing.”  
I tried to pry her arms away from her face, but there was a knock on the door. Suddenly my heart stopped and reality punched me in the face. I just slept with Gerard’s little sister. He’d kill me if he ever found out. To top it all off, I was stupid enough to do it in his parents’ house where he still lived; knowing that he would arrive at any minute.  
“Brittany?” a muffled voice could be heard from the other side of the door.  
It was Gerard. Brittany and I stared at each other wide eyed. My senses finally came back to me and I scrambled over Brittany to the other side of the room, starting to collect my clothes strewn all over the floor. Brittany giggled and I failed in my attempt to try and shush her.  
“Brittany!” Gerard’s voice reached our ears again as I pulled my pants on and Brittany also started dressing.  
“Yeah?” she called back.  
“You’re alive! Hey, where’s Frank?” he wanted to know and we both froze and stared at each other.  
“He left,” she simply answered.  
“He could’ve waited here.”  
“Yeah, but if he stayed a second longer then one of us would be dead right now,” the blonde teen lied smoothly.  
“Brittany!” her brother growled. “I don’t get why the fuck the two of you can’t just get along. You’re really a lot more alike than you think. Whatever, I’m gonna call Frank.”  
We heard his footsteps die down the hall.  
“You have to get out now,” Brittany stated, ushering me over to her bedroom window.  
I scrambled through the opening, my feet claiming solid ground on the other side.  
“I think that’s mine,” she noted, pulling a piece of lingerie that was clutched in my hands along with my shirt.  
“Sorry,” I murmured.  
I leaned forward to kiss her, but she playfully pushed me away and waved, closing the window in my face. Things obviously weren’t just going to change between us. I remembered that I was outside and still shirtless and quickly pulled my shirt over my head before starting in the direction of my mom’s house. My phone rang just as I walked through the front door.  
“Hey, Frank! I’m sorry I was late,” Gerard immediately apologized. “I got a little caught up.”  
“It’s okay,” I assured him. “I had some other things to do anyway. You weren’t that late anyway.”  
“What are you talking about? I was almost forty minutes late,” he stated. “But I’m home now.”  
I stopped in front of the mirror in the bathroom to see my hair all disheveled.  
“Can you give me ten minutes and I’ll be there,” I said starting the shower.  
“Sure, no problem. See you later.”  
As soon as he hung up, I stripped my clothes off and hopped in the shower. When I got out and started to put my clothes back on, I noticed long red scratch marks down my back where Brittany had dug her nails in. A slight shiver ran down my spine as I remembered the feeling.  
I was probably going to hell for this for more than one reason. She was my best friend’s little sister and she wasn’t even eighteen yet. Brittany and I hated each other, so technically speaking we just used each other for sex. All of this taken into consideration, I still didn’t regret it. I was almost embarrassed to admit that it was the best sex I’ve ever had.  
I pulled my shirt on and fixed my hair before heading back to Gerard’s house.  
“Hey, Frank!” he grinned when he saw me. “Sorry about earlier and about the fact that you had to put up with Brittany.”  
I chuckled, “That’s okay. We’re both still alive. Where were you anyway?”  
“Uhm, Melania kept me a bit preoccupied,” he admitted sheepishly.  
I couldn’t help laughing, “That’s why you were almost forty minutes late? You were with Melania?”  
“Don’t judge me,” he chuckled. “I love my girlfriend.”  
“Forty minutes long,” I snickered. “Probably longer, I wouldn’t know.”  
“Fuck off,” he scowled, punching my arm. “Let’s get going. The rest of the guys are probably wondering what happened to us.”

*

Brittany's POV  
It was about eleven thirty that night and Kasey, my best friend, and I were watching a slasher movie. The living room’s lights were suddenly switched on and the two of us protested, shielding our eyes from the brightness. I heard Gerard and Frank snicker.  
“What are you watching?” Gerard asked, reaching down to grab some popcorn.  
I pulled the bowl away and out of his reach, but then Frank just happened to be standing on my other side and he managed to grab a handful. I pulled the bowl away from his hands as well and looked at them both resentfully.  
“Get your own damn popcorn.”  
“We’re watching Scream 3,” Kasey told them with a smile.  
“We’ll make our own popcorn,” Gerard replied. “And then we’re going to join you. No making out in front of us though,” he joked.  
I laughed sarcastically, “Like we’d give you two that much of a show.”  
“Yeah, dream on,” Kasey agreed. “If you want some attention, you’ll have to ask your girlfriends.”  
“What about Frank? He doesn’t have a girlfriend,” my brother said and I looked up at Frank.  
“If he asks nicely, I’ll give him a private show a little later,” Kasey grinned.  
Gerard and Frank burst out laughing and walked off towards the kitchen.  
“What the hell was that?” I asked surprised. “You just flirted with Frank!”  
She giggled, “Can you blame me? That boy is hot shit.”  
I smirked, “Yeah, he is kinda good looking. Drop dead gorgeous really,” I finished, murmuring that last sentence to myself.  
“Oh my gosh! You are totally crushing on him!” Kasey exclaimed loudly.  
“No I am not!” I argued.  
“Yes, you are,” she insisted. “I don’t blame you at all. Like I said, that boy is super hot!”  
“Can you keep it down?” I slightly hissed. “My brother and Frank are in the next room. And I am not into him. You know how I feel about him…”  
“Do I?” she asked, giving me a teasing grin and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.  
“Yeah, Frank and I can’t stand each other and we never will. Let’s just keep watching the movie.”  
Kasey gave me a knowing look before turning her attention back to the television screen as well.


	7. Chapter 7

Gerard's POV  
My parents were having a small celebratory dinner thing and the entire band was there. Mikey and Ray were messing about with sounds on the computer. Those always seemed to be working. They couldn’t even relax for just one night. As always, Matt sat on the couch not far from them playing video games and Frank was watching, trying to distract the drummer from him game or making annoying comments about his game playing skills. I just laughed at my best friend and he tried grabbing the controller from the bigger male. He was such a kid some times.  
I made my way into the kitchen where my mom was busy making dinner with my girlfriend, Melania’s help and my dad was keeping them company.  
“Thanks, Mom, Dad for doing this. You really didn’t have to,” I said sincerely grateful.  
“Gerard,” Mom started seriously. “Your band just got signed. That’s great news. It’s big! Your father and I just want to show you that you have our support.”  
“Until the year you asked for is up,” Dad added jokingly.  
Melania turned around to face me, her smile instantly bringing about my own grin.  
“Don’t worry, Mr. Way. The boys are going to kill this. You haven’t seen world domination.”  
“Jackass!”  
Everyone in the room turned around to see who had made the exclamation. I could clearly make out Brittany’s angry voice and hurriedly made my way into the living room, because there could only be one reason for her outburst. Brittany and Frank were arguing again.  
“I don’t get it. If you guys hate each other so much, why don’t you just stop talking to each other? You’re constantly fighting and it’s pissing me off,” Mikey grumbled and Ray simply nodded in agreement.  
“He’s so full of shit!” Brittany exclaimed, angrily pointing a finger at the guitarist. “No, wait, he’s full of himself!”  
Matt and I cracked up at the direct hit momentarily forgetting our annoyance.  
“In that case you’re full of me too,” Frank shot back.  
“Okay, stop it! If you want to talk dirty to each other, go do it somewhere else, because I don’t want to hear it,” I said sternly. “What the hell are you even fighting about this time?”  
The pair looked at each other and then back at me, but neither of them could give me a straight answer.  
“Does it matter what we’re fighting about? Your best friend’s a dick and you are all oblivious to that fact!” Brittany exclaimed incensed. “I don’t get how none of you can see the real Frank fucking Iero.”  
I opened my mouth to reply, but someone else beat me to it.  
“Brittany, your language! You’re a girl and even if you weren’t, we never taught you to speak such foul language!” our dad scolded her with an angry look on his face. “Now can someone please tell me what’s going on here?”  
“Frank and Brit hate each other. It’s as simple as that, Dad,” Mikey muttered. “They’ve never been in the same room for more than a few seconds without trying to rip each other’s heads off.”  
My dad looked over at the two of them sternly. “You’re both grown up now. Don’t you think it’s time to start acting like it?” And with that the old man left the room.  
I looked back just in time to see Frank lean closer to Brittany and whisper, “Because I’m Frank fucking Iero.”  
“Frank!” I snapped as my sister shot him a dirty look.  
He grinned innocently up at me, “Yeah, Gee?”  
I stared at him for a long time before shaking my head, unable to help the chuckle escaping my lips. “You are just impossible. You’re like a dog. No one can stay mad at you.”  
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” the pint-sized guitarist grinned broadly.  
I’m not even sure what happened next, because it was all in a matter of seconds. Frank seemed to double over in pain and Brittany was simply gone.  
“Fucking bitch,” Frank hissed quietly, clutching his shin where the blonde girl just kicked him before storming off.  
Now it was Mikey’s turn to laugh. Frank flipped him off and wobbled over to the couch still holding onto his injured leg.  
“You know,” Matt started not taking his eyes off the television screen. “You and Brittany are perfect for each other.”  
“Fuck you!” Frank snapped.  
I walked over and sat down next to Frank, interested in what the drummer had to say.  
“I’m completely serious,” the male with the scruffy blonde hair said, finally looking over at Frank. “I disagree with Gerard’s dad. Neither you nor Brittany is grown up and from what I can tell, neither of you are planning on ever growing up. So my conclusion is that you belong together.”  
“You are fucking delusional, my friend,” Frank stated sourly retying his shoelaces. “That girl is fucking crazy. I’ll pray for the poor soul who is stupid enough to get mixed up with her. Don’t you know? Black widows eat the male after mating.”  
“For someone who is afraid of spiders you sure know a lot about them,” Ray spoke up from the other side of the room.  
“It’s only for survival,” the short male assured him.  
“Frank, please don’t talk about my sister as a black widow again,” Mikey requested.  
“But she’s exactly like that,” Frank insisted.  
Mikey scowled, “I don’t care. I don’t want to picture her mating… ugh, you know, whatever with anyone. It’s…quite disturbing.”  
Frank turned around to face him, a wide mischievous smile spread across his face.  
“Is that so? What would you picture when I put Brittany and… Matt in the same sentence?”  
“Shut up,” Mikey growled, getting up from the chair he was sitting on.  
“What about Brittany and…”  
“Frank, I swear if you don’t shut up right now, you’ll be Frank fucking dead Iero,” Mikey threatened.  
The doorbell rang and I jumped up to go answer it.  
“Brittany and your mom!” I heard Frank yell and then chaos erupted in the living room.  
“Hey, Syd,” I greeted hurriedly, letting Mikey’s girlfriend inside. “You’re just in time. I think Mikey is about to kill Frank,” I told her and she laughed as we made our way into the living room.  
We could hear Mikey shouting angrily somewhere inside the house, but it sounded like Frank had locked himself into a room and Mikey was just banging on the door. I have no idea how my parents ever survived us lot.  
“Help?” Ray said, looking pleadingly at the tall female next to me.  
“Mikey!” Syd called out to her boyfriend and soon before long my brother appeared in the living room. “Why are you trying to kill Frank?”  
“Because he’s a little asshole,” Mikey grumbled, walking over to her and giving her a kiss. “He’s lucky you’re here now otherwise I would’ve had his head.”  
Everyone in the room burst into laughter at his statement and then went back to what they were doing before.

Frank's POV  
I slowly opened the bathroom door and peeked outside to check if Mikey was still lurking around, wanting my blood. By looking at him, you’d never be able to tell that he was such an aggressive kid, but he could be really scary at times.  
It appeared to be safe and I quietly snuck out into the hallway. I could hear the sounds of laughter coming from the living room’s direction, but that was not what caught my attention. Instead my eyes found a thin sliver of light coming from beneath a door deeper down the hallway. Brittany’s room. I reached it in a few short strides and quietly knocked on the door.  
“Come in!” her muffled voice sounded from inside and I accepted the invitation, finding her stretched out across the bed on her stomach, face buried in what looked like some magazine.  
She looked up from it and her emerald green eyes narrowed as soon as she saw me standing in the door.  
“What do you want?”  
I put my hands up in the defense, “Relax. I just want to talk. I promise I’m not here to piss you off. I might end up doing that, but I’ll try not to,” I finished with an innocent smile.  
She looked at me suspiciously for a long time and I could only imagine what she was thinking. Her eyes were scrutinizing me and I almost started to feel uncomfortable under her glare when finally she sat up and nodded. “Come in then and close the door.”  
“Did you like what you saw?” I asked cockily, unable to help myself as I walked over to her bed and sat down across from her.  
Brittany rolled her eyes, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards as she said, “But of course, Frankie. You’re such a hot human being I can barely look at you without feeling my entire being burn up.”  
I lie down and chuckled up at the ceiling, “Okay, okay. No need to boost my ego too much. I might just get a big head and how do you think that will look with my small body?”  
Suddenly Brittany’s face appeared above mine and she looked at me with a small smile. Her green eyes seemed to sparkle with laughter and I could swear that she was making an effort to keep her face from splitting into a broad grin.  
“Maybe a big head would be too much for your tiny frame to bear,” she laughed, sitting back again.  
“Now hold on a second,” I said a little exasperated, sitting up just enough to enable me to grab her hand and pull her on top of me. “I’m taller than you are so what are you actually saying?”  
“I’m not shorter than you!” the blonde argued.  
“Oh, yes you are,” I laughed.  
“By half an inch!”  
I grinned triumphantly, “Still shorter.”  
There was a long comfortable silence during which we just stared into each other’s eyes. However, Brittany soon broke the silence, saying, “I guess it’s true that a person’s body makes up for a shortage in one area by overcompensating in another.”  
“Wha…” my mouth hung open, because I had no idea what her insult was aimed at.  
“Maybe if you weren’t so pint-sized, you wouldn’t have such a big mouth.”  
“Excuse me? I don’t have a big mouth,” I retorted a little irked.  
“Don’t worry, short shit,” she giggled. “You’re quite skilled with your big mouth,” she grinned before closing the distance between our faces.  
Okay, now I definitely didn’t feel insulted anymore. This definitely made up for her bitching me again earlier too.  
Her lips gently massaged mine, but it wasn’t enough and I rolled us over, deepening the kiss. I must be brain damaged, because this is the second time this week I’ve made out with Gerard’s sister. Fuck… He was going to skin me alive if he found out. However, these thoughts were soon pushed to the back of my mind as Brittany sucked on my lower lip and I let out an involuntary moan. I could feel her hands push up beneath my shirt and then how she slowly dragged her nails down my chest. This caused goose bumps all over my skin. This girl was going to be the end of me and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.  
People… Laughing… Somewhere inside the house. Brit tugged on my hair sending a new sensation running through my body. The Ways, Ray and Matt… A celebratory dinner… Me and Brittany in her room making out furiously… Fuck.  
“Brit, stop,” I mumbled against her lips.  
“But what…if I don’t want to?” she asked and then she was straddling my hips, smirking suggestively down at me. She gave one look at my flushed face and the quick rise and fall of my chest and grinned broadly. “You don’t really want me to stop, Frankie. You’re already a mess.”  
I couldn’t argue with her. I was so turned on that it wasn’t even funny. Her sitting on top of me definitely wasn’t helping matters. But we had to stop. We weren’t alone and anyone could walk in on us at any minute. Mikey was probably still looking for me and if neither of us rejoined the conversation soon, someone was bound to wonder where we were.  
“No, Brittany. We can’t,” I insisted, taking her hands in mine to keep her from kissing me again or teasing me for that matter. I obviously only had a limited amount of self-restraint. “Your entire family is in the living room and so are the guys. We really can’t…”  
“Way to kill the moment, Frank,” she said annoyed as she got off of me. “While you’re making out with me, you’re thinking of my family?”  
“No, I’m just trying to be responsible here. Do you really want your parents or your brothers knowing? I know I don’t…”  
“So you’re scared?”  
“I’m just being careful.”  
The blonde teen sighed deeply, clearly not very happy with me right now.  
“You should go. We don’t want to get into any trouble now,” she stated sarcastically. “Heaven forbid anyone finding you in here with me.”  
It was my turn to sigh and I got up from her bed, heading for the door. I didn’t have anything to say to her and left her room without another word to rejoin my friends in the living room.


	8. Chapter 8

Brittany  
It was early Saturday morning and the sun was actually shining brightly for once. It was really nice, giving me the perfect opportunity to pull on a brown pair of shorts with a black tank top that emphasized all my curves in all the right places. Dab a little make-up here and there, add a little eyeliner, and pull my hair up into a high pony tail and viola.  
Just as I was on my way out I could hear my family having breakfast in the kitchen. Gerard was laughing loudly at something Mikey said and Mom and Dad were commenting on whatever it was. To be honest, I was surprised that either of my brothers was even up. It was only a little after nine and normally they’d only be up around noon, especially Gerard.  
I stepped out of the house and walked up the street. The sun was shining down brightly and several of our neighbors were working in their gardens; pulling out weeds, watering the plants and everything else they didn’t have time for during the week or when it’s raining half the time.  
“Good morning, Brittany!” and elderly woman greeted me warmly.  
“Hey, Mrs. Jones,” I waved in response.  
“Lovely day, isn’t it?”  
I nodded smiling, “Very. Have a nice day, Ma’am!”  
As well as my parents raised me, I still wasn’t planning on keeping the old lady company all day long. She had her own grandchildren to do that.  
I was on my way to Kasey’s house which was only a few houses over from ours. It was a little further than Frank’s house. I looked up as I realized this just in time to stop across from Frank’s house. I haven’t been over there since I was a little girl, but I’m sure his mother would still recognize me and let me in. Frank would probably kill me as soon as I cross the threshold though. He could be so grumpy at times. Oh well, there was no rest for the wicked so I might as well pay the guitarist a quick visit even if it was just to piss him off.  
My knuckles connected with the wooden door a few times and I waited for someone to answer the door. After a few minutes when someone still didn’t show up, I turned the doorknob and found that it was open.  
“Hello?” I called out as I stepped inside the house and closed the door behind me.  
I could hear music coming from the direction of the kitchen and I figured that it was probably Mrs. Iero, because I doubt that Frank was a huge Nat King Cole fan. If I remembered correctly, Frank’s bedroom was on the second floor. By the time I reached the top of the stairs I could hear the shower and smiled evilly to myself. Hold on to your knickers Frankie boy, because I’m coming for you.  
I quietly opened the bathroom door, stepping inside the steam filled room. Frank wasn’t even singing or humming to himself. The only sound in the room was the water splattering down from the showerhead and into the bathtub. I snuck closer and without waiting another second, ripped open the shower curtain. Frank jumped in shock and stared at me wide-eyed. He obviously didn’t know which parts to cover and which parts not.  
“Good morning, Frank,” I grinned broadly staring at every inch of his body.  
It’s not like I haven’t seen it before, though I’d never admit how hot he was. Wet strands of hair clung to his perfectly shaped face, some longer tangles of dark hair reaching down to his jaw. Water drops ran down his toned torso and I had to make an effort to control my breathing. Yeah, maybe this guy could stir up things in places that I wasn’t even aware of, but he was still Frank.  
“Fuck, Brittany. You just scared the shit out of me,” he said relieved. “Don’t you knock? And what are you doing here anyway?”  
I thought about my answer for a split second then said, “You don’t lock any of your doors. The front door was open and so was the bathroom door. I literally just walked in of my own accord. Not even your mother noticed me sneak into the house, though she seemed kind of caught up in singing along to the radio,” I finished with a giggle.  
“That still doesn’t explain what you’re doing here,” the guitarist pointed out, leaning slightly out from under the water to talk to me.  
“I just wanted to drop by and say hi,” was my innocent reply.  
I noticed a change of emotion in his eyes and then he smirked. It wasn’t a look that I liked or trusted, but before I could react, Frank had already grabbed my arm and was pulling me into the shower with him.  
“Frank!” I shrieked, struggling against him, but he was too strong and had me under the water in no time. “No, I’m…in my clothes.”  
Thank goodness I wasn’t wearing white. That would’ve been embarrassing.  
He laughed heartily at my reaction, his hands resting on my shoulders to keep me from getting back out.  
“You’re such an ass,” I said accusingly as his hazel eyes stared deep into mine, the sparkle in them evident.  
A knock on the door drew our attention away from one another.  
“Frank, are you okay?”  
It was his mom.  
“Yeah, Mom, I’m fine,” Frank called back, still smiling at me.  
“Okay, because I thought I heard screaming.”  
I had to cover my mouth with my hands to keep my giggles from escaping.  
“Uhm… There was a spider,” the male hurriedly lied. “But it’s gone now. I’m fine.”  
“Aw, you scream like a girl,” I snickered after his mom left.  
“Shut up,” the guitarist said smiling. “That was you.”  
“Oh, really?” I asked more quietly, feeling my heartbeat increasing rapidly as he kept staring at me.  
What was he seeing and what was he thinking? Before I knew it, I was pinned against the wall by Frank’s body, his lips greedily claiming mine. I could definitely get used to this.  
I enjoyed fighting with Frank. It was fun seeing him get pissed off. I loved getting under his skin and I was good at it. I wouldn’t ever want to change that, but lately these moments we were having were just as much fun. Frank was a great kisser and well, a great everything really. His hands were rough on my skin yet gentle. They were guitarist’s hands. His skin seemed to burn under my finger tips. I loved the way his hair felt between my fingers or the way he would shiver whenever I dragged my nails down his back. I loved the look of lust in his eyes and the pleasure that was written all over his face. It’s very rarely that I got to see him like this. Since we were in the shower I couldn’t even tell the difference between drops of water and drops of sweat running down his face. I was the one doing this to him. I was the one turning him on. What I probably loved most was the memory of a breathless Frank lying next to me with his messy hair in his face after we had sex for the first time. This time was a close second though. His face was buried in the crook of my neck and he clung onto my shoulders as if for dear life. Frank was mine. I had to bite down on my bottom lip to keep from screaming out his name as I reached my peak. However, it wasn’t just over. Frank kissed me deeply for a long time after we were done and then finally turned off the water.   
It was crazy how one moment you could hate someone with every fiber of your being and the next you could just screw each other’s brains out. That’s all we were doing. This wasn’t love. It was simply need, lust. The hate just made it so much better.  
“Oh yeah, no one is going to wonder where I’ve been,” I muttered as Frank wrapped a towel around me and rubbed his hands up and down my arms a few times.  
“It’s a hot day outside and you decided to jump into someone’s pool without their consent,” he said smartly.  
“That could actually work,” I conceded.  
“Of course,” he grinned smugly. “I’m just awesome like that.”  
With that, he opened the bathroom door and checked the hallway.  
“My mom’s still downstairs. Come on.”  
We hurried into his bedroom and he shut the door, locking it.  
“You know, you showing up in my shower was quiet a nice surprise,” Frank stated, turning to me and placing his hands on my waist. “You should do it more often.”  
“We’re not in a relationship, Frank otherwise I probably would’ve.”  
He shrugged and nodded his head, “I know, but I’m just saying.”  
“If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought that you liked me,” I noted.  
“You wish.”  
I looked at him curiously and gently pushed him away.  
“No, you wish.”  
Frank rolled his eyes, “Here we go again. It’s always about you, isn’t it? You just can’t get over yourself.”  
“You like me, don’t you?” I countered.  
“Damn it, Brittany!” he grumbled. “Why the fuck would you even ask me that? You know how I feel about you.”  
“Do I?”  
“Yes, you’re a bitch and as you prove that day after day after day, I don’t think anything is about to change not your attitude nor the way we act towards each other.”  
My jaw was clenched tight at his statement. I realized that it was nothing but the truth, but I still didn’t like hearing it.  
“Every time we even begin to get along even just a little bit you have to do something to ruin it. Now can we just get dressed so you can go?” he said, walking over to his bed where his clothes were laid out.  
“Why bother putting on clothes?” I questioned. “You know I’ll just rip them off again soon,” I smirked, remembering that I had some power over the dark-haired male which I could use to ease the tension between us and I pushed him down on the bed, crawling on top of him. “Admit it, you can’t stay mad at me,” I smirked, leaning down to connect our lips.

*

“Shh,” Frank said, placing a finger to his lips as we snuck down the stairs careful not to let his mother see us.  
Unfortunately it was a near impossible task as both of us were too busy giggling to be quiet. We just reached to bottom when we heard his mother coming from the kitchen.  
“Frank?”  
“Shit!” his eyes grew wide and I immediately dove behind a couch standing a few feet away.  
“It is you,” his mother said, entering the room. “Are you on your way out?”  
“I’m heading over to Gerard’s.”  
I peeked from behind the couch and saw his mom looking around the room suspiciously, but since I was well out of sight, she couldn’t see me and she simply nodded, turning around and leaving.  
“I’ll see you later when you get back.”  
“Yeah, bye, Mom,” Frank responded before looking at me with an ear to ear grin.  
I was just about to get up from behind the couch when suddenly Mrs. Iero turned around again. I hurriedly dropped down on the ground again, managing to hit my head against the side of the couch, biting back a curse.  
“Frank, are you okay?” his mother asked, sounding worried.  
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” he hurriedly replied.  
“I don’t know. You seem to be acting strange today,” the woman stated suspiciously.  
“Mom, strange is my middle name. You should know that by now. Really, you have nothing to worry about,” he assured her and she nodded, leaving the room.  
I finally came out from behind the couch, rubbing my forehead.  
“Are you okay?” he asked amused.  
“I hit my head.”  
Frank started laughing and grabbed my hand, pulling me out the front door.

*

I practically fell through Kasey’s bedroom door, dropping down on her bed. She looked up from the magazine she was reading and frowned deeply.  
“Get your wet butt off of my bed!”  
I slid down the side and landed hard on my ass.  
“Ow!”  
“What the hell?” Kasey demanded. “Where were you? You were supposed to be here an hour ago and why do you sound like you just ran a mile?”  
“Because I did,” I breathed unable to suppress a giggle at how crazy Frank and I were.  
We were sneaking around like teenagers. I had an excuse, but he didn’t. He was supposed to be a grown-up. Then again, it was Frank.  
“And why the hell are you wet?” she asked, eyeing me suspiciously.  
I looked up at her innocently, pushing a wet strand of hair behind my ear and decided to go with Frank’s lie.  
“It’s a hot day and I jumped into the Jones’ pool without their consent.”  
“You mean that green pond in their backyard?” she asked skeptically.  
“Uhm…”  
“Where are you really coming from?” the raven-haired girl asked curiously, sitting up and leaning over the side of the bed to look at me properly.  
I scrambled to my feet and shrugged, “I honestly just went for a swim.”  
“Honestly, Brittany? Who do you think you’re talking to?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.  
I gulped, realizing that no matter what lie I told her, she wasn’t going to believe me.  
“I came from the Iero house.”  
“Frank Iero? What were you doing there?”  
A sudden response entered my mind and I just went with it. “I had to drop off something from my mom, but then Frank was being an asshole and that’s why I’m drenched to the bone.”  
Kasey stared at me for a few seconds before shaking her head, “You two really hate each other, don’t you?”  
“You have no idea,” I replied, sighing in relief.  
Kasey went back to reading her magazine and I just looked around her room. I’ve been in here a million times before. It might as well have been my own bedroom. Then again, the two of us have been friends since middle school. We were as close as my brother and Frank were.  
Why the hell does every thought I have lately come back to Frank Iero? I was still trying to figure that out when Kasey suddenly spoke up again.  
“You know they say that there’s a fine line between love and hate.”  
“What?” I asked confused.  
“What are you not telling me?” she countered with a question of her own. “And don’t even try to bullshit your way out of this, because you know that I can see right through it.”  
I opened my mouth to start explaining, but she cut me short, “Your explanation better contain Frank Iero or I’ll smack you.”  
“What?”  
“I know this has something to do with him so anything else you tell me will just be a lie.”  
My eyes grew wide at how perceptive she was.  
“That’s not fair,” I scowled.   
“You’ve done a lot worse to me now get on with it. I don’t have all day.”  
“Aren’t we demanding,” I grumbled. “Fine. You know that Frank is a part of my brother’s band. Well, Gerard asked us to try and get along, but you know me and Frank. We try, but we can’t stand each other. Even my dad told us to grow up. It was so embarrassing. Anyway, we’ve been talking and trying to figure out a way to stay out of each other’s way, because that’s the only way we’ll stop fighting.”  
I almost felt bad for lying, but she would flip out if I told her the truth.  
“So you’re working together?”  
“No, just planning how to stay out of each other’s way,” I repeated.  
“Really?”   
“Damn it, why do you have to be such a pain in my ass?” I demanded annoyed and the girl chuckled. “I told you that I wanted the truth.”  
“I… I…” Kasey was right, no matter what I told her now, she’d know exactly when I’m lying. “Frank and I had sex,” I finally blurted out.  
“What??”  
“I know!” I shrieked, burying my hands in my hair. “I don’t know why. It just happened!”  
“You slept with Frank? I thought you hated each other?”  
“We do! We do,” I stated definitely.  
“But then why…”  
“It only happened once, I swear!” I practically yelled, feeling the need to defend myself even though that was a lie.  
“Brittany!”  
“What?” I asked, calming down.  
“What are you doing?” the raven-haired teen wanted to know. “You shouldn’t be doing this. You and Frank hate each other and this thing that you have going on, whatever it may be, is only going to end disastrously. You know that.”  
I sighed deeply, falling down on her bed.  
“I know, but Kasey,” I started, rolling onto my side and looking at her pleadingly. I let out another sigh before continuing. “I don’t know what this is, but you’re right. You are absolutely right. This can’t under any circumstances continue. The next time I see Frank, I’m going to tell him that whatever happened this morning was the last time. It can’t ever happen again.”  
“You just came from Frank’s?? And you guys… Why are you wet?” she asked confused.   
“Frank has a kind of rough way of inviting a person in to join him for a shower…”  
“Brittany, no!!! Over share!” she exclaimed horrified, making me laugh heartily.


	9. Chapter 9

Frank  
It was a lot later that afternoon when Gerard, Mikey and I stepped out of the Way’s house on our way to band practice. I didn’t see Brittany and assumed that she’d gone straight to Kasey’s after her shower at my house and she was probably hiding out there, knowing that I was going to be at her house all day. I couldn’t help smiling at that thought. I finally had some power over her whether she admitted it or not. Unfortunately the opposite was also true. She had just as much power over me. I guess the power struggle between us would never end. If only I could manage to get the upper-hand somehow. I’d have the girl eating out of the palm of my hand.  
I heard talking and looked up from my converse clad feet to see that Gerard and Mikey stopped and were now talking to Brittany and Kasey who just came up to driveway. My eyes instantly met Brittany’s green eyes and she smirked, turning her attention back to her brothers.  
“Are you guys on your way to band practice?” the youngest Way wanted to know.  
I wasn’t really paying much attention to their conversation though. My thoughts were elsewhere. Actually my focus was just on Brittany. At least she was dry. When we went our separate ways this morning, she was practically soaking. I suppressed a snicker, remembering that I was the reason she’d been drenched. Oh well, I wanted to take a shower. Besides, she was the one who showed up in my bathroom without warning and I’m sure she wasn’t complaining afterwards. She got exactly what she wanted.   
Admittedly, her hair was all fucked up because of it. Instead of its usual straight style, slight blonde curls fell down past her shoulders, but I liked it. It looked pretty, framing her face. Even her green eyes seemed more prominent. The look suited her.  
“We have to go into the studio soon so every minute of practice is important,” Gerard’s voice reached my ears again and I noticed that they were still talking. I could only guess how much of the conversation I missed during my closer inspection of the blonde teen.  
I felt a slight crawling sensation on my skin and my eyes turned to meet Kasey’s curious ones. She was smiling at me as if she knew something. And then it hit me. What could she know that had her grinning at me like that? Grinning at me specifically? My eyes grew wide in horror and it looked like the female had trouble suppressing her laughter.  
“Frank.”  
Brittany told her. Why in the hell would she do that??? Why would she tell anyone about what was going on between us? I thought we agreed to keep it a secret. If Gerard or Mikey ever found out they would flip! Sure they knew me and I figured that I was a pretty decent guy, but that still wouldn’t have them jumping the moon over the fact that I was having sex with their eighteen year old sister.  
“Frank!”  
“What?” I exclaimed in exasperation, looking up and seeing that everyone was staring at me now.  
Brittany seemed curious, Mikey was having trouble suppressing a snicker and Kasey was still grinning at me like she knew something she shouldn’t.  
“Have you even heard a word I’ve said?” Gerard questioned with a slight frown.  
I glanced at Kasey one last time before answering his question with a shrug, “Yeah, sure. You were saying how important it is to practice before we go into the studio.”  
At this Mikey couldn’t hold it anymore and he burst out laughing. Now I was confused. What was so funny? What did I miss?  
“What is up with you today?” Gerard demanded a little amused. “Earlier when you came over you were all smiles and over-excited, but I took that as you just being Frank.”  
I gave him a wtf-look. Who else would I be?  
“And now you’re off in your own little world,” he continued.  
Mikey snickered again, “Maybe he’s thinking about a love interest.”  
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Brittany’s head shoot up to stare at her brother in surprise. I gaped at the younger Way brother. Did he know too or was he simply guessing?  
“I didn’t miss the way you were gawking at Kasey,” he said and now his face split into a broad all-knowing grin.  
Kasey let out a giggle at his words knowing full well that Mikey was as far away from the truth as it gets.  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I denied his accusations.  
I was being honest, but obviously Mikey would jump to the conclusion that I’m protesting to hide the truth. He just didn’t know that the truth was actually that I liked his sister and not her best friend. Wait! What? I don’t like Brittany! Where did that thought come from? Shit, I’m losing it!  
“Frank, you’re doing it again,” someone said and I looked up in confusion. “You’re not listening and simply staring into space,” Mikey said accusingly. “Come on, spill.”  
“I’m not into Kasey,” I admitted truthfully, kicking at the pavement with my already tattered converse. “Even if I did, I’m sure Brittany already turned her against me. I don’t stand a chance.”  
“You got that right,” Brittany stated defiantly. “Kasey knows better than to go for Frank.”  
The other girl nodded in agreement.  
“Okay, it’s time to go,” Gerard interrupted hurriedly, probably worried that if we kept talking that Brittany and I would attempt to strangle each other. “Come on, Frank, Mikey get in the car. See you girls later.”  
Mikey and I didn’t argue and simply got in the car as we were told. I hopped in the backseat as Mikey rode shotgun. The girls waved, smiling sweetly as we pulled out of the driveway. Kasey winked at me right before we were out of sight and I sank lower in my seat. She was going to torture me with the new piece of information she had.  
“So, Frank,” Mikey started from the front seat. “How about the truth? Are you into Kasey? I promise not to tell,” he grinned smugly.  
“No,” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest like a little kid.  
I don’t know why Mikey got this stupid idea of Kasey and me in his head, but he needed to forget about it.  
“Then why were you drooling over her back there at the house?” he wanted to know smartly.  
“I wasn’t…”  
“I believe him, Mikey,” Gerard came to my defense. “I agree that Frank likes someone. He has for a while now.”  
I turned slightly paler at his statement. I caught his eye in the rearview mirror and he gave me a knowing look. Of course my best friend would be able to tell that something was going on. Fuck, did he know about Brittany? This was a disaster!  
“Who?” Mikey wanted to know curiously, nearly bouncing up and down in his seat in excitement.  
Gerard frowned, “I’m not sure, but there’s definitely someone. For some strange reason Frank hasn’t told me anything.”  
It was true. Usually when I was interested in a girl he was the first person to know. However, for obvious reasons, I couldn’t tell him this time.  
“I’m sure we’ll find out sooner or later,” he finished with a smirk, eyes twinkling.  
Mikey sat back in his seat, “I still think it’s Kasey. You didn’t see the way he was staring at her.”  
“It’s not,” I insisted.  
“The truth will set you free, Frankie,” Mikey stated, turning around to face me.  
“Why do you want to know so badly?”  
“Because,” he smiled. “I want to know whose got you all whipped.”  
“I’m not whipped,” I grumbled stubbornly.  
I hated Brittany Way. I didn’t have any other feelings towards her. The hate sex was good, but that was it. There was nothing else between us. She was a spoiled brat and I… I had a band to focus on. I had more important things to concentrate on. Brittany Way was nobody to me. She was simply the girl who made my life a living hell growing up and now she was just… still that same little girl. Right?  
“Nope, he’s a goner. Whoever’s got Frank’s attention has got him good,” Mikey said, turning back to face the front and earning a chuckle from Gerard.  
I definitely needed to get my head straight. The guys were starting to ask questions and at this rate they will find out the truth soon and that was the last thing on earth I wanted.


	10. Chapter 10

Gerard parked the car outside Ray’s house and I noticed that there was an unfamiliar car parked in the driveway. We walked up the small path and entered the house without bothering to knock. We found the puff head downstairs in the basement where Matt was already busy setting up his drums. There was someone else in the room as well. It was a beautiful female with steel grey eyes and her blonde hair pulled into a messy bun behind her head. She flashed us a perfect white smile the second she saw us entering the room.  
“There you three are,” Ray noted. “This is Amy. Apparently she’s our legal representative.”  
“Amy White,” she introduced herself, getting to her feet and approaching the three of us still standing in the doorway. “And Ray’s right. I am your new legal rep, wouldn’t want the new guys to get sued due to some misunderstanding.”  
“It’s nice to meet you, Amy. I’m Gerard,” he introduced himself, shaking her outstretched hand. “Are you going to watch us rehearse?”  
“I’d love to stay for the show,” she smiled in response.  
“Oh, this is my brother, Mikey and this is…”  
“Frank,” I cut Gerard short, eyes meeting Amy’s.  
They seemed to have a never-ending depth to them and I smiled.  
“Make yourself at home.”  
“Thanks and it’s nice to meet all of you as well. I was kind of worried that I’d get stuck with a bunch of stoners, but you guys seem perfectly normal.”  
“That depends on how you define normal,” Matt joked from behind his drums as he started a steady beat. “Hey, guys. Can we hurry up? I have a date later tonight and since Amy’s going to be working with us you can learn all there is to know about her later.”  
“Sure,” Gerard nodded, walking over to the mic as the rest of us found our instruments and took our places.  
Matt started a beat on the drums and then it was Mikey’s turn to fall in with the bass. After a few seconds, Ray started strumming away on his guitar and finally it was mine and Gerard’s turns.  
“And if they get me and the sun goes down into the ground. And if they get me take this spike to my heart and. And if they get me and the sun goes down. And if they get me take this spike and you put the spike in my heart!”  
And then we totally lost it. At least I did. I was jumping around, guitar practically flailing around. It was a miracle I didn’t drop it. Good thing it was slung across my shoulders. Nothing was safe. I was on the table, rolling around on the floor, kicking the couch, just going crazy. There was nothing like music. I lived for it and just put everything I had into it. I honestly couldn’t wait for our first tour. It was going to be huge. We’ve done a few small shows around Jersey and other places, but it could just get so much bigger and better now that we were finally signed.  
A good five minutes later the song came to an end and I gasped for air. I was so out of practice. Amy clapped her hands and made a few whooping sounds.  
“Not bad. I can see why they like you so much.”  
“Thanks,” all of us grinned sincerely grateful.  
Ray started the next song and that how the rest of the band practice continued. We’d stop every now and then to change one or two chords or if some part of a song didn’t seem right, but for the most part it was only practicing pre-rehearsed songs. We were on a roll and loving it.  
When we were finally done almost two and a half hours later, Matt practically ran out the door. That was the only reason we really stopped playing. The drummer had to go. None of us really minded since we were all ready to go our separate ways as well. Amy left about an hour ago which only left Ray, the Way brothers and me.  
“Okay, I don’t know about you guys, but I am too amped to go home and be boring. Let’s go out.”  
“I agree with Frank. I want to dance,” Gerard grinned, doing a few awkward movements and causing all of us to laugh.  
We looked at Mikey and Ray, waiting for their response.  
“I’m game,” Ray shrugged.  
Mikey looked at all of us and smiled, “I guess that leaves me no choice. But can we go home first. I want to change into something else and fix my hair.”  
“You’re such a fucking girl,” I giggled, reaching up and ruffling his hair. “Come on Mickey Mouse. Let’s go.”  
I grabbed Mikey’s wrist and dragged him up the stairs after me. I was eager to go and the sooner Mikey was reunited with his hair straightener, the sooner we would be in the club. I could hear Gerard and Ray laughing as they followed us up the stairs.  
“I’ll follow you guys in my car,” Ray informed us once we were outside. “See you again in two minutes.”  
We all got into the cars and a few minutes later we were parked in the Way’s driveway. Gerard was halfway towards the door when I ran from behind and jumped onto his back. The raven-haired male nearly crashed into the ground, but somehow managed to regain his balance.  
“Frank, you lunatic!” he yelled laughingly. “You could’ve warned me you were coming.”  
“Where’s the fun in that?” I wanted to know, my face split in two by a broad grin.  
His arms reached back to get a grip on my legs to keep me from falling and then he continued his trek towards the front door. Mikey and Ray were already inside.  
“So I was wondering. Who’s this girl you’re so hopeless over?” Gerard asked innocently.  
“I’m not telling,” I replied somewhat childishly.  
“Why not, Frankie? It’s me, Gerard. I thought you always told me everything.”  
“I know, Gee, but there’s nothing to tell and that’s why I’m not telling you.”  
He was about to drop me, but I tightened my grip around his neck and he stopped, pulling me higher up onto his back again.  
“Seriously, Frank. You forget who you’re talking to. I know you better than I know myself and I know that something’s up with you. But feel free to keep it a secret. I’ll find out eventually.”  
I could tell that he was smiling and giggled.  
“You’re on.”  
We finally entered the house just as Brittany came in from the kitchen.  
“Hey you two kids,” she greeted us. “Aren’t you going out with Ray and Mikey?”  
“We are, but Mikey needs to get ready first,” Gerard told her, letting go of me and I slid down to the ground, landing on my feet.  
I looked around wondering where Kasey was. When I couldn’t find her I figured that she’d probably gone home which was somewhat a relief. I had no idea why I suddenly felt so threatened by the fact that she knew what was going on.  
“Hey, Gee is it okay if Kasey and I tag along?”  
“Are you kidding me?” her brother asked in all seriousness.  
“Please! We won’t consume any alcohol, I swear! We just want to go out and dance. It’s been forever since we’ve had some decent fun. The house parties around here pretty much suck,” she finished, pouting and looking at him with pleading eyes.  
“Give it up, Brit. I’m the only one who can pull off the puppy face,” I teased and she stuck her tongue out at me.  
Gerard sighed in defeat, “Fine, but I don’t want to have to babysit you all night. One misstep and I’m bringing you home.”  
“Yes! Thank you!” she exclaimed excitedly, kissing him on the cheek. “I’m gonna go tell Kasey. See you in a minute,” she said, disappearing.  
“Sorry about that,” Gerard said, looking at me guiltily. “But she wasn’t going to stop nagging unless I conceded.”  
I was about to shrug it off and tell him that I didn’t really care if she came along or stayed at home, but that would be a little suspicious since I was supposed to hate her guts.  
“Whatever,” I responded, rolling my eyes. “I’m used to the fact that she always gets what she wants.”  
“Yeah, she has that ability,” he agreed, nodding.  
“Are you guys ready to rock and roll?” Brittany asked doing a few spastic dance moves as she entered the room, followed by Kasey.  
I couldn’t help laughing at the sight.  
“Yeah, you and Gerard are definitely related.”  
“Fuck you man,” Gerard grinned.  
“Don’t worry, Gee. He’s just jealous that he can’t be as awesome as we are,” she retorted, putting her arm across his shoulders.  
It would’ve been a lot more impressive if she didn’t have to stand on her toes in order to be able to do it. This just brought more giggles from me. Ray and Mikey finally joined us.  
“Is it cool if Brittany and I go with Gerard and Frank and Kasey, you two go with Ray?” Mikey wanted to know, pushing his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose.  
Okay, great, now he was trying to push me and Kasey into each other’s arms. Not going to happen, Mikes.  
“Why?” Brittany was the one to ask.  
“Because I thought it would be cool if all us Way’s were in the one car and well, the non-Ways in the other. You’re welcome to switch places. As long as you and Frank don’t end up together in the same car, I’m cool. Unless the two of you go with Gerard.”  
“Why me?” the raven-haired male wanted to know with a slight frown.  
“It’s your sister and your best friend…”  
“She’s your sister too!” he shot back.  
“There’s a bigger chance of you not leaving them on the side of the road or killing them than any of us.”  
“It’s fine,” Kasey finally spoke up, already making her way to Ray’s car. “I don’t mind riding with Ray. Shotgun, Frank.”  
“I was going to let you sit in the front anyway,” I told her, hopping in the back.  
“That settles it then. Mikey, you and Brittany are coming with me. Ray, I’m just going to stop by Mel’s house to pick her up, but we’ll meet you there.”  
“Sure,” the male nodded, pulling out his keys and getting in on the driver’s side.   
“Can we pick Syd up as well?” I heard Mikey ask before Ray closed his door.  
“You two ready for one hell of a night?” he asked with a smile and Kasey and I nodded eagerly.

***

The club was raging by the time we arrived. We were all there except for Matt of course. It was kind of an underground place and Kasey and Brittany had no trouble getting in. I remember coming here all the time when I was a teenager. It was the best place to hang out and go crazy.  
“We’re going to go dance. See you guys later,” Brittany shouted at Gerard over the loud music before she disappeared into the ocean of bodies with Kasey by her side as usual. The rest of us headed up to the balcony area where the bar was and ordered something to drink.  
“Hey, Mikey!” I called to the skinny boy. “See that cute girl over there? She’s been staring at you since we got here. You should go over there and talk to her.”  
Mikey suddenly seemed shy and shook his head, “Go away, Frank. Syd’s right here,” he mouthed at me.  
I laughed heartily, “Oh, but it’s okay for you to try to set me up with Kasey?”  
He grinned guiltily, “I’m sorry. I just thought you’d appreciate it.”  
“I told you that I’m not interested in Kasey.”  
“But…”  
“No buts. I’m serious,” I cut him short. “No more trying to hook me up with Kasey. I’m not interested in her.”  
“Okay, fine,” he conceded grudgingly.  
A familiar song came on and I jumped up.  
“That’s my song. Gee, you coming?” I asked excitedly.  
He lifted his glass in my direction and said, “I’ll join you when I’ve finished my drink.”  
I waved and then hurried down to the dance floor. It was bustling with sweaty bodies and that just heightened my excitement. I moved through the crowd, dancing deeper and closer to the center of the dance floor. After a while my eyes landed on a familiar blond moving to the beat of the music. I danced closer to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards me.  
“Frank!” she smiled when she spun around to face me. “I see you’ve finally come down to join me. Where are the guys?”  
“Up by the bar,” I shouted back still moving to the beat of the music.  
“Ooh, I didn’t know you could dance.”  
“I don’t like to brag, but yeah, I have a few moves.”  
“Show me,” she requested and I pulled her against me, her breath hitching at the sudden movement.  
We were so into it that we didn’t even take note of everyone around us. We didn’t realize that the song stopped and another one started. It was all just in the moment.  
Brittany leaned forward and whispered in my ear, “Meet me in the bathroom.”  
With that she left me standing alone in the middle of the dance floor as she disappeared in the direction of the restrooms. I waited a few minutes in order to catch my breath before following. My eyes scanned around to make sure that no one was watching before slipping into the bathroom. I was barely inside when the door was pushed shut and locked. Brittany instantly had me pinned against the wall, crashing her lips to mine in a furious kiss.  
“Fuck, Frank,” she muttered through kisses and heavy breaths. “You have no idea how much I hate you, but I am just so turned on right now.”  
I changed our positions so she was up against the wall, one hand pressed against the wall next to her head, the other wrapped tightly around her waist to keep her body pressed against mine. I knew exactly how she felt. A cold shower was definitely not going to be enough right now. It seemed like the blonde teen didn’t know what to do with her hands, because they were all over me not that I minded.  
“Wait, Frank,” she said, grabbing my face and separating our faces. “I’m not having sex in a dirty bathroom,” she said completely out of breath.  
“Neither am I,” I assured her. “Do you honestly think that little of me?” I asked, not waiting for an answer as I ducked my head to kiss her neck.  
She let out a groan and responded, “I don’t think about you.”  
“I’m sure you don’t,” I muttered, continuing my attack on her neck.  
“Don’t flatter yourself, Frankie boy,” she smirked, pulling back slightly to look at me.  
I placed my hands on either sides of her face.  
“You told Kasey about us.”  
“She forced the truth out of me,” came her ragged reply.  
“So what you’re saying is that if Gerard came up to me and started asking questions I should just spill my guts?”  
Her eyes grew wide, “Are you crazy?”  
“Exactly,” I said triumphantly. “The more people know, the bigger the chances are that one of your brothers would find out.”  
“I lied though,” Brittany informed me, staring back at me with wide green lust filled eyes. “I told her that today was the first time we did it and that I was going to end it. Not that that’s going to happen any time soon,” she smirked, pulling my face back to hers.  
“No, Brittany we need to talk about this,” I said, stopping her. “We might want to quit while we’re at it. Gerard’s growing suspicious. He knows both of us like the back of his hand. It’s only a question of time before he figures it out and then what?”  
“We just need to be a little more discreet about what we’re doing…”  
“And not tell people about it,” I added seriously.  
“I won’t tell anyone else and neither will Kasey. You can trust her. Now will you shut up and kiss me already?”  
I pulled away from her with a small sigh, “Sorry, but I’m not really in the mood anymore.”  
I barely turned away from her before my back met the wall.  
“I guess I’ll just have to change that,” the youngest Way said mischievously, leaning up and claiming my lips.

***

Five minutes later, Brittany checked to see if the coast was clear before I snuck back into the club. I was so busy looking around in case someone saw me that I didn’t watch where I was going and walked right into Melania.  
“Frank, whoa!” she said smiling. “Where are you coming from?”  
“The bathroom,” I replied truthfully.  
There was no need to elaborate and tell her that I was in fact coming from the women’s bathroom after a steamy make-out session with her boyfriend’s little sister.  
She nodded, “Okay, I’ll see you when I get back from there as well.”  
I walked away, but barely moved five feet when Kasey stepped in front of me.  
“Hey, Frank.”  
“Do you want to lecture me about screwing your best friend?”  
Her eyes grew wide in horror, “What? You slept with Brittany?”  
I suddenly panicked. Was I wrong about her knowing? Oh, shit!  
“No, I said…”  
The teen burst into laughter.  
“You got me,” I admitted, chuckling.  
“You should have seen the look on your face when you thought that you blurted out your biggest secret.”  
“You looked genuinely shocked when I opened my big mouth. It was pretty convincing.”  
“Why thank you?” she grinned broadly.  
I grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the dance floor.  
“You should consider pursuing a career in acting,” I shouted at her over my shoulder.  
“Thanks, but I don’t think acting is really my thing. I…” she stopped talking and narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re trying to change the subject… and I was dumb enough to fall for it.”  
I smiled back guiltily, “It almost worked though.”  
“I can see why Brittany likes you. You’re smart,” the girl stated.  
“She likes me?” I asked skeptically.  
“Uhm, I don’t see why else she would be sneaking into club bathrooms or dirty dancing with you.”  
“You saw that?” I asked wide-eyed.  
“The two of you getting it on on the dance floor? Yeah, I’m not blind and you were being kind of obvious. As for the whole bathroom trip, I don’t think you have to worry about anyone else seeing. I happened to notice because I was watching you guys.”  
I let out a deep sigh of relief and looked up to see Mikey smiling down at the two of us dancing. Great, he was never going to let the idea of me and Kasey go. Let him believe what he wanted. At least he didn’t suspect a thing about me and Brittany.  
“So how long has this been going on?” Kasey wanted to know, pulling me from my thoughts.  
I shrugged casually, “It’s not going on. What happened this morning was a onetime thing. We are going to go back to hating each other now.”  
“Right,” she said skeptically, stepping closer to me as people kept bumping into her from behind.  
“I don’t bite,” I assured her, pulling her even closer. “And you don’t have to worry about Brittany and I. There’s really nothing to all of this. We had our fun, but it’s over now.”  
“I don’t have a problem with it, other than the fact that the two of you are supposed to hate each other, but other people might. Besides, I don’t want Brittany getting hurt.”  
I couldn’t help laughing at her last statement.  
“Don’t worry. Brittany doesn’t give a shit about me. She’s the wicked witch of the West. She’ll be fine. It’s just physical anyway.”  
“Whatever you say, Frank.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Frank**

  
It was sometime Friday night and since neither Gerard nor I had anything better to do, we sat in the Way’s living room watching Friday the 13th. You know your life is really sad when you’re over twenty and sitting home on a Friday night watching horror movies with your best friend. I should be out with a girl or at least have some sort of plans. Even the fact that I was in a band didn’t make up for me sitting in on a Friday night. Couldn’t I be out playing a show instead? Why weren’t we out playing a show?

Don’t get me wrong, I had no problem spending the night watching horror movies with Gerard. He was my best friend after all and this was kind of fun. We were both laughing at the bloody parts or flipping out when the stupid person investigates the strange noise. Seriously, didn’t these people ever watch horror movies? Don’t check it out, because you’ll be checking out! Several empty cans of soda and empty packets of candy or chips littered the small coffee table on which our feet were resting. My mom would have a heart-attack if we were in her house, but Gee’s parents were cool. I guess his mom was just used to all our habits by now and she knew we would clean up once we were finished. As for our feet on the coffee table, Mrs. Way gave up a long time ago trying to get the bad habit out of us. It was a useless effort.

The movie was about halfway when we heard a creaking sound behind us and then suddenly Brittany appeared, plopping down between us.

“Do you mind if I join you guys? You seem to be enjoying whatever it is you’re doing and I’m bored out of my mind.”

“You’re more than welcome,” Gerard smiled in response, stuffing a hand full of skittles in his mouth.

“Don’t you have plans with Kasey or something?” I was the one to ask.

The blonde shook her head, “No, she’s away with her parents for the weekend so I don’t have anywhere else to be. What about you guys? Where’s Mel?” she asked, turning to look at her brother.

“She’s working,” he replied, hazel eyes glued to the television screen where someone just screamed loudly.

“Babysitting after hours?” Brittany joked.

“Actually yeah,” Gerard nodded. “One of the kid’s parents asked her if she’d be willing to babysit for the night which leaves me home alone.”

Brittany started laughing, “I don’t even know how anyone would leave their kids with her. She’s not exactly your average kindergarten teacher.”

At this the raven-haired male tore his eyes away from the screen to look at her.

“Well, she’s got a lip piercing, dresses like some punk/Goth princess, not exactly role model material.”

“It’s all about personality, dear sister. You know what a sweetheart Melania is and the parents and the kids love her. As long as she loves what she’s doing, I’m not going to stand in her way.”

After that it was quiet as we continued to watch the story. I soon realized that Brittany was almost more entertaining than the movie though, because she was clearly freaked out, judging from the spastic-attacks she kept having next to me every now and then or the muffled shrieks escaping her lips.

“Sit still!” Gerard exclaimed in exasperation as we both laughed when Brittany nearly jumped through the roof near the end of the movie.

“I don’t know how you guys can possibly watch this,” she said, covering her eyes from the blood and gore going on on screen.

Gerard laughed again, “It’s awesome. You can relax. The movie is finished.”

He got up and stretched himself out. “Can I get you girls something to eat and drink?”

I didn’t answer him, pretending that I didn’t hear him call me a girl.

“You’d be an angel,” Brittany said gratefully.

“Frank!”

“Yeah?” I asked, looking at him with raised eyebrows.

“Do you want something from the kitchen?” he asked again.

I grinned cheekily, “That would be great, girlfriend!”

“Fuck you,” he laughed, walking away.

It was quiet for about half a second before I burst out laughing.

“I cannot believe that you were so scared during the movie!”

The teen scowled at me, “Go away.”

“You’re such a girl,” I kept laughing.

“Well, duh, last time I checked I still was a girl!”

“Yeah, but…” I couldn’t finish my sentence, breaking into another fit of giggles.

“I don’t know how you can stand all that blood and gore. Mikey’s a freak for that stuff, but I don’t get it. It’s just horrible.”

“It’s not every day I see your sensitive side.”

“That’s only because I don’t show it,” she stated.

“Why not?” I asked curiously, turning slightly to face her. “It doesn’t make you less you, on the contrary.”

She didn’t meet my eyes. Instead she took a hold of my right hand and started tracing the first part of the Halloween tattoo tattooed on my knuckles. I could tell that she obviously wasn’t going to respond so I changed the subject.

“What are you going to do all weekend?”

She looked up and smirked, “Be awesome.”

“You sound like me,” I noted with a chuckle. “If you don’t have anything else to do, I can always teach you how to play guitar.”

“Why?” she asked with a slight frown.

“So you can take over the world with your band one day,” I said, grinning broadly.

“And who said that I was interested in starting a band?” she wanted to know with a small smile plastered on her face.

“I just figured that you’d be good at it,” I told her truthfully. “You have a lot of confidence and your brothers are both musically talented. Why not you?”

“Okay,” she nodded. “It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

I sat back with a satisfied smile. Why was I feeling so happy about spending time with Brittany over the weekend? Weird.

“Just be warned though,” I started. “You might be wedged between me and the guitar. Beginners don’t usually know the right amount of pressure to apply or exactly where to place their hands, that kind of thing.”

Brittany rolled her eyes at my statement, dropping my hand back in my lap.

“If it’s absolutely necessary I guess I can suffer through it. It’s not like I haven’t been that close to you before, right?”

“I don’t see how else we…”

I stopped talking as I noticed Gerard coming into the room from the corner of my eye.

“I thought you would’ve inserted the next movie by now,” he said, putting sodas and a bunch of snacks down on the table and walking over to the television to choose a new movie.

“Can we please not watch another scary movie?” Brittany begged, but Gerard and I voted and won.

The rest of the night was spent watching horror movies and with Brittany hiding behind my shoulder.  
  
 **Brittany**

It was almost ten on Saturday morning when I was standing on the Iero’s porch and knocking on the front door. Frank and I agreed that I would go over to his house for the guitar lessons since his mom was going to be at work and besides, we couldn’t exactly meet up at my house since both my brothers were home.

The door swung open to reveal a broad grinning Frank.

“Welcome to residence Iero,” he said overdramatically.

I simply laughed at his antics, following him inside and into the living room.

“Can I get you something to drink?”

I nodded and stood in the middle of the room, looking around at everything as I waited for Frank to return from the kitchen. It was a normal living room with two puffy looking red couches. I remember hitting my head against one of them the other day when hiding from Frank’s mom. I saw several photo frames with pictures of Mrs. Iero and a younger Frank. Come to think of it, he was never really bad looking. I wondered why I never noticed.

“You know you’re welcome to sit down and make yourself at home,” Frank told me with a smile as he returned and handed me a can of soda. “I’ll be right back. I’m just going to go get my guitar.” With that he disappeared from the room once again.

I looked around the room one last time before sitting down on one of the couches. Frank soon returned, guitar in hand. He plopped down on the couch next to me and smiled.

“You ready?”

I nodded and waited for him to continue. He rested the guitar on his lap and grabbed the fret board with his left hand while gently strumming with the other.

“Okay, watch me. Pay attention to where I place my fingers on the fret board. I’m going to show you a few chords and then help you learn them as well.”

As he explained, he played a few chords and I watched closely. It wasn’t a fast tune so it wasn’t too difficult to follow his movements.

“Okay, your turn,” he said, passing me the guitar.

I slung the strap across my shoulders and rested the guitar in my lap.

“Place your fingers here and here,” he continued, showing me exactly what to do. “Press down as hard as you can and strum with your right hand.”

I did exactly as he told me, but the sound that came out was nothing like what he played a few seconds earlier.

“Press harder,” he instructed.

Again, I did as I was told and this time it sounded right.

“You’re almost there, but you still need to apply more pressure on the frets.”

I sighed, because I wasn’t the most patient person in the world. I pressed down as hard as I could and strummed.

“See, there,” the dark-haired male smiled. “You did it. Now try the next one,” he said, grabbing my fingers and moving them into place.

I did the same as before, but it was just another false sounding tune that came from the guitar.

“Okay, relax,” Frank said calmly. “You’re obviously not going to be a pro right off the bat. It’s going to take a lot of practice. Come here.”

He patted his thigh and waited for me to respond. I wasn’t quite sure what he planned to do, but I obeyed nonetheless and sat down on his lap.

“Okay,” he said again and I could feel his warm breath in my neck. Right, now I was definitely going to get it right. There was no way I could mess up now that all my attention was on him. Right…

His left hand grabbed onto mine, forcing my fingers down in place on the fret board and then I felt his right arm reach around me to strum. “Do you feel that? That’s how much pressure you should try to apply.”

I nodded and he let go of my hand, letting me strum. To my surprise the sound actually came out right. At least it sounded right to me.

“Good,” Frank spoke up behind me again. “Let’s try the next one.”

His fingers curled around mine once more and guided them into place. His chin was now resting on my shoulder and I could feel his hair slightly tickle my neck. Guess what I’m concentrating on. _Come on, Brittany. Forget about Frank and focus on what you’re supposed to be doing otherwise this entire session will be a waste of time. Maybe not a complete waste…_

I took a deep breath in an attempt to clear my thoughts and then played what he showed me.

“Play both this time.”

It was actually not as difficult as it seemed at first. Now that I knew how much pressure to put on the chords, it was easier. I still made one or two mistakes, but it was coming along.

“So why did you never learn to play before?” Frank asked, breaking me from my thoughts of how good he smelt and momentarily distracting me from the fact that his hands were resting on my sides.

“Uhm… well, Gerard’s not really that good and Mikey’s more into playing bass so,” I shrugged casually.

“You should keep practicing though. I think you can be really good with enough time.”

I smiled bashfully and went back to playing. It wasn’t the easiest task to concentrate with him so close and my heart attempting to beat right out of my chest, but I somehow managed to not completely screw up. It seemed like forever before Frank finally said that we were done.

“You just played the intro of Demolition Lovers,” he said sounding almost proud. “But shh, don’t tell the guys I taught you that.”

“Thanks. I feel good.”

“You should. You did really well for your first time,” he said and I could practically hear the smile in his voice and then I felt his lips on my cheek.

“Are you hungry?” he suddenly asked, helping me off his lap and jumping to his feet. “’Cause I’m starving.”

I was kind of disappointed by the sudden lack of contact, but pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind. I put the guitar aside and followed him into the kitchen to find him already rummaging through the freezer.

“I’ll be honest, I’m not a good cook,” he started telling me as his head re-emerged from inside the freezer. “But my mom bought an entire load of frozen pizzas from this little store in town and it’s so easy to heat up that even I can do it. And it’s really good.”

My eyes followed him as he moved around the kitchen finding a pan to put the pizzas in and turning on the oven. Our conversation during lunch consisted of playful banter and talking about what the band’s plans were and what I planned on doing after high school. I think it was the first real conversation the two of us ever had.

After lunch we started washing the dishes. Halfway through this task, Frank leaned closer and lightly nudged me with his shoulder. I smiled and swung my hips, bumping him in turn. He stumbled a bit and laughed, grabbing the sponge from the sink and lifting it high above his head.

“No, Frank don’t!” I protested.

“Why not?” he asked sweetly and I watched as soap ran down his arm and wet his red shirt.

“Because you’re not that evil!” I attempted, knowing full well that no matter what I said, I was going to end up wet in a matter of seconds. “Please, Frank! I would really like to leave your house dry for once.”

He slowly lowered his arm, but I didn’t trust this quick surrender at all. And then in one swift movement, he had his arms around me, using his hand to push the soaking sponge against my forehead and hair.

“No, Frank!” I squealed, attempting to push his hands away. “Frank! That’s gross, come on!”

“Not until you surrender,” he said, laughing evilly.

Someone cleared their throat and Frank and I looked up to see his mom standing in the doorway and looking at us questioningly. Frank hurriedly let go of me and I straightened up. He flashed that grin that looked like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth at his mom.

“Hey, Mom. You’re home soon,” he said sweetly.

Unbelievable. No wonder he could get away with murder. He suddenly seemed like a saint compared to the real Frank.

“Yes, I left work early,” she informed him, still looking curiously at the two of us.

“Hi, Mrs. Iero,” I greeted awkwardly not sure what else to do under her scrutinizing gaze.

“We were just cleaning up,” Frank spoke up again and I had to suppress a giggle.

“Good,” his mother nodded turning around to leave. “Oh, and, Frank.”

He looked up.

“Clean up the mess you made on the floor as well,” she said, disappearing from the kitchen.

“We will,” he assured her still in that saintly manner.

“You are so full of shit!” I whispered when I was sure his mother was out of hearing shot.

“You think?” he grinned, grabbing me around the waist again and planting a kiss on my temple before dragging me back to the dishes.

We finished clearing up the kitchen and then headed upstairs to his bedroom. He closed the door and turned to face me.

“So any preferences?” he wanted to know as he walked over to the radio.

“Do you have Green Day?” I asked, sitting down on his bed.

“Of course,” he grinned broadly, popping the CD into the radio and hitting the play button.

“It’s going to be awesome,” I stated randomly, waiting for him to question me.

“What is?”

“When I become more awesome at guitar than you,” I said, grinning.

His eyes grew wide in amusement. “Is that so?”

“You just watch. Soon I’m going to take that pretty little guitar of yours and play better than you can even dream of.”

Frank chuckled lightly, sitting down on the bed as well.

“I’d pay to see that.”

“What, you don’t believe me?” I asked still smiling.

“I believe that you believe that you can do it, but that doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree.”

“You just watch. You’ll be eating your words in no time,” I insisted.

“Whatever you say,” he smiled, leaning over and softly pecking my lips.

I reconnected our lips and they slowly moved together. Our bodies shifted and my hands came to rest on his shoulders as his hands rested on either side of me to keep him from falling against me. The male pulled away and looked at me. Only now did I notice the dark hazel color of his eyes.

“Do you think your mom knows?” I couldn’t help wondering.

He gently pushed a strand of hair behind my ear before answering, “She probably does, but it doesn’t matter. She won’t tell at least I hope not.”

“Oh yeah, Frank. That’s real comforting,” I said sarcastically.

He giggled quietly, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to her, okay?”

I nodded, “Sure.”

“How about some more guitar lessons?” he asked and I nodded in response.

He kissed me one last time before leaving the room to get his guitar from downstairs.


	12. Chapter 12

"Frank, no! Stop, please, don't," Amy begged, holding her hands out in front of her in order to keep me at a safe distance. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way."  
  
My smirk grew wider, "Oh, so you didn't mean to call gay?"  
  
"I didn't say you're gay. I just..."  
  
"Called me a girl?" I finished the sentence for her, taking a step closer to the blonde beauty.  
  
"No," she hurriedly jumped back, stretching her arms out even further and grabbing onto my arms to make sure that I didn't get any closer. "I simply noted that you won't survive prison, because you look like jailbait."  
  
"And there you did it again!" I exclaimed in fake shock before pouncing on her.  
  
"No, no, nooo! Frank, please! I'm ticklish!"  
  
"I can tell," I giggled, digging my fingers into her sides.  
  
"I meant it as a compliment. You're cute!"  
  
"Cute, huh? That's not good enough."  
  
The girl shrieked and tried to wriggle her way out from under me, but I had her pinned on the couch and she was practically wetting herself. I've never seen anyone this ticklish before. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she rolled around laughing.  
  
"Okay! Okay, okay, okay! You are fucking hot, Frank Iero!" she screamed and I stepped back.  
  
She gasped for air and looked up at me with her big grey eyes, clearly begging me not to do that again.  
  
"I won't touch you," I promised her with my hands up in the air. "But you deserved that."  
  
"I give you a compliment and you torture me in return. I don't see how that is fair," she scoffed, sitting up and fixing her hair.  
  
I smiled innocently and plopped down on the couch next to her.  
  
"Maybe next time you'll remember that adorable isn't necessarily a good thing to call a guy, unless of course he's gay in which case I'm sure it'll be fine."  
  
"Are you talking from experience?" she asked teasingly.  
  
"I can tickle you again," I threatened and her eyes grew wide. "No, I'm not gay at least not the last time I checked. Gerard and I have fooled around once or twice, but that was simply to piss off homophobes or because we were bored."  
  
Amy started laughing next to me, clutching her stomach, "Ow, it still hurts. You nearly killed me."  
  
"Whoa, we leave you two alone for five minutes and you bring down the place," Ray noted, coming into the small recording studio with the rest of the guys following short on his heels, hands full of take out packages.  
  
"We're just sitting here and talking," I responded innocently.  
  
"That's why Amy looks like a bird attempted to make a nest in her hair," Mikey noticed.  
  
Gerard's eyes narrowed slightly at me and then he shook his head with a chuckle.  
  
"Poor Amy."  
  
"Thank you!" Amy exclaimed, getting to her feet. "Your friend here is merciless and nearly caused me to laugh myself to death."  
  
"That's Frank," Gerard nodded. "Unlimited energy and just plain limitless."  
  
"Hey, I'm not that bad," I said defensively. "Besides, you all know that you love me the way I am."  
  
"We do," Gerard chuckled, ruffling my hair.  
  
"Frank, please don't scare Amy away," Matt pleaded. "I like her."  
  
"Nah, Amy loves me too," I stated cockily, moving up behind her and wrapping my arms around her waist. "Right, Amy? What did you say I was? Oh yeah, fucking hot," I grinned smugly.  
  
"That was an involuntary admission. I had no choice!" she said, shooting me down.  
  
"You still love me," I insisted, planting a kiss on her cheek and releasing her from my grip. "Let's eat so we can get back to recording."  
  
 *****  
  
"Ah, fuck," I sighed, realizing that I had to walk all the way home from the studio as soon as all the guys left.  
  
Everyone went to see their girlfriends and I just happened to be the only one who didn't have one. To top it all off, I came here with Gerard and now had no way to get home other than walking. I used to walk a lot when I was still living in New York, but it's been a while since and I haven't been walking so much lately. The only time I actually walked a distance was when I walked over to the Ways' house and they didn't exactly live miles away like my house was from the tiny recording studio which just happened to be at the other end of town. Maybe I needed the exercise. I was about half way down the road when a white Jeep slowed down next to me.  
  
"Hey, Frank! Need a ride?"  
  
It was Amy. I thought she'd left already.  
  
"I live on the other side of town," I informed her.  
  
"I don't mind dropping you off. Get in," she said, smiling brightly.  
  
"Cool," I grinned, walking over and getting in on the passenger's side. "Thanks a lot. I honestly wasn't looking forward to the long trek home," I said gratefully.  
  
"No problem," the female assured me, putting the car into gear and starting off towards my house.  
  
We made small talk all the way home and about ten minutes later the car pulled up in my street.  
  
"Thanks. I owe you one," I told her, getting out.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll make sure you pay me back eventually," she joked. "See you around."  
  
"Bye!"  
  
I stepped back from the car window and waved as she drove away. I started up the small garden path, but quickly changed my direction and made my way over to the Ways' house. I knocked on the front door and Mrs. Way answered after a few moments.  
  
"Hello, Frank. This is a surprise! The boys aren't home," she told me.  
  
"I know, Mrs. Way. I'm actually looking for Brittany."  
  
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise.  
  
"Oh, okay. Well come on in. I think she's in her room," the middle aged woman spoke, stepping aside to allow me to enter.  
  
"Thanks," I smiled, walking past her and heading straight for her daughter's bedroom, knocking on the door.  
  
"Go away!"  
  
"Brittany, it's me, Frank."  
  
The door was forcefully yanked open and the blonde teen glared hard at me.  
  
"I know it's you that's why I said go away. I'm not in the mood," she snarled.  
  
I stopped the door right before she slammed it in my face and bit my lip to keep from letting out a string of profanities.  
  
"I'm confused. What the hell is your problem?"  
  
Brittany had her back turned to me as she busied herself with things on her desk.  
  
"I don't have a problem in the world, Frank. Honestly. Today is just not the day to annoy the crap out of me so if you came here looking for entertainment, you might as well leave right now."  
  
"What did I do for you to suddenly hate me again?" I asked genuinely confused.  
  
Things have been going well between us the last couple of weeks. We still had our moments, but we argued a lot less. I wasn't aware of doing anything to change that and that's why her sudden change of attitude baffled me so much.  
  
"Nothing, Frank!" she snapped, spinning around to face me. "You did absolutely nothing wrong and that's what pisses me off so much. I have no right to be mad at you, but I am!"  
  
I didn't think it was possible, but I was even more confused now than I was mere seconds ago.  
  
"Just go away," she muttered, turning away from me again. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."  
  
I was definitely going to leave her in her current state of mind, because it's not like she was going to hate me even more the next day. Right.  
  
"Talk to me, Brittany. Tell me what's wrong."  
  
She ignored my request and concentrated on whatever she was busy doing. I knew that the only way I was going to get anything out of her was by enraging her even more. It might backfire badly, but it was the only way I knew how and maybe I wasn't smart enough to just leave in the hope that she'd sleep it off. I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her.  
  
"I'm not leaving until you give me a proper answer."  
  
"Frank, don't," she said warningly.  
  
"I'm not afraid of you," I said earnestly. "And you can't tell me what to do."  
  
That ought to get her attention.  
  
"I know I can't tell you what to do," she gritted through her teeth.  
  
"I bet you hate that."  
  
A satisfied smirk made its way onto my face as I knew this last statement was true. I felt her body go rigid and I realized that an explosion was not far behind.  
  
She didn't disappoint either, because she spun around and shoved me away from her.  
  
"I don't care if you're horny to the point of exploding. I'm not in the mood! Why don't you go fuck your other girlfriend?"  
  
"My...what?" I gawked at her in honest surprise.  
  
"I saw you, okay! Please don't insult me by lying to my face," she said crossly.  
  
"What on earth are you talking about?"  
  
"Damn it, Frank! The blonde, you know the one you came home with."  
  
Suddenly all the pieces seemed to fall into place and I had trouble suppressing my laughter. Brittany was jealous and that's why she was so furious with me. She saw Amy dropping me off at home and that's what this was all about.  
  
"Brittany, listen to me. The person you saw dropping me off at home was Amy. She's the band's legal rep. She only gave me a ride home, because the rest of the guys all went out with their girlfriends and I was left without a ride. She was nice enough to offer and I wasn't going to turn it down."  
  
My response seemed to catch her off guard, because she almost looked regretful for reacting the way she did, but as expected her eyes caught fire again and she crossed her arms over her chest.  
  
"If she's just the band's legal representative, what was she doing at the studio during your recording process?"  
  
"As far as I know, she's still pretty new to the business so she doesn't exactly have hundreds of clients demanding her time. I guess she hangs out at the studio when she has nothing else to do. She gets along with the band pretty well."  
  
"Someone needs to tell her what the limits of her duties are," the blonde grumbled quietly.  
  
I smiled, placing my hands on her shoulders.  
  
"You don't have anything to be jealous about. There's nothing going on between me and Amy. I promise."  
  
"I'm not..." she started to protest, but I silenced her with one look.  
  
Brittany sighed deeply, "I believe you. I don't know why, but I do. Sorry for acting like a jealous girlfriend."  
  
"Your first apology," I couldn't help noticing. "I should get rides home with other women more often. It brings out another side of you."  
  
"Screw you," she chuckled, playfully shoving me.  
  
"Can I stay now?"  
  
"Yes, you may," she smiled, leaning forward to peck my lips. "Make yourself at home. I promise I'll behave."  
  
"I hope so. For a moment there I was kind of fearing for my life," I joked, falling down on her bed.  
  
"I thought you weren't afraid of me?" the green-eyed beauty shot back.  
  
"I'm not, I'm just saying, you're quite terrifying when you're spitting fire and shouting out profanities..."  
  
One of her pillows connected with my head and I laughed, screaming dramatically.  
  
"Help, crazy person attacking me!"  
  
"Shut up, Frank Iero. I'll be doing the world a favor by getting rid of you," she stated, straddling me with the pillow raised above my head.  
  
"That's not very nice," I pouted and felt the pillow come down on my face.  
  
She was pretty strong for a girl, but I soon gained control, pushing the pillow away and breathing in deeply. I really did wonder about her mental state of mind sometimes. I caught her around the waist and flipped us over.  
  
"Now it's my turn," I told her, grinning evilly before starting to tickle her.  
  
It wasn't the same as tickling Amy, because Brittany wasn't quite as ticklish, but she was clutching her stomach nonetheless and begging me to stop.  
  
"I will do anything," she gasped.  
  
"Anything?" I asked slyly, sitting up.  
  
However, I should've known that she was only lying, because the second I let my guard down, Brittany pushed me off of her and ran out the door.  
  
"Come back here!" I yelled, scrambling off the bed and running after her.  
  
She skidded to a halt when we reached the living room and I crashed into her from behind, having to catch her around the waist to keep her from crashing to the floor.  
  
"If you two are done playing, dinner is ready," Mrs. Way informed us, watching us curiously.  
  
I hurriedly let go of Brittany and stepped away from her.  
  
"Thanks, Mom," she said slightly out of breath, fixing her hair and clothes.  
  
I nodded in agreement and her mom left the room. The two of us burst out laughing and only headed to the kitchen when we calmed down enough to breathe. This was going to be an interesting dinner.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Frank, are you into my sister?"

Brittany

 

I was seated at the kitchen table, feet propped up on the chair, knees drawn up to my chest and cereal bowl clutched in between as I read /Gone With The Wind/that was lying open on the table top. My brothers were also standing in the kitchen, having coffee and talking about some or other thing concerning the band.

 

Dinner with Frank and my mom the night before was kind of awkward after she walked in on the two of us running around the house. We weren't doing anything wrong, but of course my mom wasn't stupid and she kept shooting us curious looks throughout dinner. She didn't say anything nor did she ask any questions, but Ithink Frank and I both knew that she was a little too suspicious for comfort. Even we were both quiet during the meal and that's saying a lot.

I couldn't believe we were so stupid. I knew my parents were both home the night before, but obviously I didn't take that into consideration when fleeing from my room. Also it was the second time that someone caught us in a bit of acompromising position. Frank's mom also walked in on us fooling around in the kitchen a couple of weeks ago. The irony of the situation was that Frank was the one who suggested that we should be more discreet and yet since then we've been more obvious about the little affair going on between us. Again, no one has actually caught us doing anything more than playing or at least getting along, but that alone is already suspicious enough since we were supposed to hate each other.

 

"We should have a get together tonight like a mini party."

 

I looked up as I heard Mikey's suggestion.

 

"We can invite all the guys and they can bring their respective girlfriends," he continued. "It

doesn't have to be a rager or anything, just something to help us unwind after all the recording we did these last few weeks. We need it before going back into the studio, don't you think?"

 

"Yeah, I admit that being cooped up with the same handful of people in such a tiny space for days on end is slightly driving me crazy," Gerard chuckled. "Don't get me wrong, I love you all very much, but too much is just too much."

 

"I'm sure any amount of time with Frank anywhere in the world is too much," I snickered, throwing my part into their conversation.

 

"Hey, Brittany," Mikey started. "If you want to be at the party I would be quiet if Iwere you, because I'm not going to ask you to come if there's a chance that you and Frank will be at each other's throats the entire time."

 

I was surprised by his response, but then again, I guess I would also be sick of us arguing if I were a third party always witnessing the banter.

 

"I wouldn't worry too much, Mikes," my elder brother spoke up, taking a sip of his coffee.

 

"Frank and Brittany haven't really been fighting so much lately. They actually seem to be getting along a lot better at times. But then again, maybe it's only because they barely see each other nowadays," he finished, giving me an inquisitive look.

 

I ignored his silent question and kept my gaze turned to Mikey.

 

"I live here and I'm your sister, but you'd still uninvite me in order to have Frank here? I see where your priorities lie, Mikey. I'm offended."

 

"You're always offended when it comes to Frank," he shot back. "Besides, it's not about choosing favorites. I just can't not invite Frank when the rest of the band is going to be here."

 

"And Iwon't let him," Gerard added.

 

I didn't really mind Frank being here. Sure we still fought sometimes, but not as regularly as we used to and I also wanted to join the 'party'.

 

"I promise not to make a scene, but can I invite Kasey?"

 

Mikey smiled in satisfaction, "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist. Yes, she's more than welcome. I guess that leaves me to get everything ready for tonight. Hey, Gerard would you mind letting everyone know that they should be here around six? I'll take care of everything else."

 

Gerard nodded, drinking at least his third cup of coffee for the morning. Mikey jumped off the counter and after a quick goodbye, left the kitchen. I was just about to return to my book when I noticed Gerard looking at me intently.

 

"What?"I asked, feeling a little uncomfortable.

 

My brother only ever looked at me that way when he knew something or when he was wondering about something that I didn't necessarily want him to know.

 

He shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing," he said, casually leaning back against the counter, but still not breaking eye contact.

 

I decided to ignore him and tried to concentrate on reading my book, but I was only pretending, because it was nearly impossible with him staring at me as if he could see through to my soul. It was quite unnerving, especially since Ididn't know what he was thinking. I don't know how long it was before he finally put his empty cup in the sink, kissed the top of my head and left the room. I subconsciously relaxed as soon as he was gone.

 

I was always just going to be his mischievous little sister or at least that's how Ifelt when he looked at me like that. He didn't trust me as far as he could throw me, but then again I always knew that and I had no one to blame but myself. I'll grow up too eventually. He just needed to be patient.

 

*

 

"Am Iearly?" Kasey asked, coming in the front door and not seeing anyone else yet.

 

"No, Frank and Gee are out back, firing up the barbeque and Mikey went to pick up Syd. I'm sure everyone else will be arriving soon enough too."

 

"Everyone is already here," Matt stated, slamming the front door shut behind him. "At least

I'm here now so let's get this party started."

 

I rolled my eyes and informed him that the party was out back.

 

"Are you stuck being the door girl and welcoming everyone?" Kasey wanted to know, falling down on the couch and looking up at me questioningly.

 

"I'm not welcoming another person. Let's head out back too. Gerard has the radio set up. Let's go take over the music," I suggested, grabbing her hands and pulling her up from the couch.

 

"How fun do you think this party will be?" she asked, following me. "I know your brother and his friends are pretty cool, but with all their girlfriends here, won't they be on their best behavior?"

 

"What best behavior?" I asked, smiling at her over my shoulder. "Besides if things get boring, we'll spice it up a little."

 

She shrugged, "Sure. I'm always game."

 

"Hey, Kasey," Frank and Gerard greeted her in turn as we stepped out on the back porch and made our way to the music table.

 

"Hey, guys," she smiled back.

 

"She didn't look so happy to see me," Matt muttered to them as we walked by.

 

"I thought you had a girlfriend," my brother said questioningly.

 

"Key term being had. Yeah, that kind of went sour, but I'm okay. Now I can focus on the band," he stated seriously.

 

"I like Frank better than that guy," Kasey whispered as we started sorting through the CDs.

"He's so full of himself at least that's the way it seems. Frank is cocky as hell, but he's just kidding around. This guy actually seems to believe he's the best thing ever to happen to the human race."

 

I chuckled at her statement, "Matt's not that bad. Yes, he has his moments where he's overconfident, but it's not a natural trait or anything. He's actually pretty cool once you get to know him."

 

"Cool like Frank?" she asked slyly.

 

"Oh no! I am not going there," I exclaimed laughingly. "I don't like him like that."

 

"Oh, but Frankie rocked your world, didn't he?" she teased.

 

"You are sick, just sick, sick!"

 

"Where is lover boy anyway?" she wondered curiously looking around for Frank.

 

I didn't even notice that he was gone until she mentioned it. I turned around to look for him too only to see him come from inside the house with a pretty blonde girl in tow. All the guys hugged her as she approached the group and Icouldn't help pulling my face. I've never seen her before, but I could guess who she was and honestly, if I had known that she would be here, I wouldn't have bothered coming.

 

"Hey, girls. This is Amy," Frank said, stopping next to Kasey. "This is Brittany and Kasey."

 

"You're Gerard and Mikey's sister," she smiled at me in recognition. "I've heard quite a lot about you."

 

Okay, Brit, be the bigger person. Frank said that there was nothing between them and you believed him. Like hell you did...

 

"Yeah, nice to meet you," I told her, forcing a smile in her direction. "I've heard abit about you too. Frank never stops talking about you."

 

I saw his jaw drop at that last sentence and Amy started giggling like a school girl.

 

"Really?Frank, I hope you haven't been blabbing out all my embarrassing moments," she said to him.

 

Oh, I see how this is. She's so into him!

 

"I haven't said anything about you," he replied truthfully, shooting me a sidelong glance.

 

"You don't have to worry about me saying anything bad about you."

 

"Embarrassing moments?" I pried. "I'll bet Frank was involved."

 

I noticed Kasey also staring at me curiously.

 

"Well..."the blonde started, but Frank cut her short.

 

" Uhm, let's go get you something to drink," he suggested, walking ahead in the direction of the kitchen.

 

Amy looked surprised by his sudden curt attitude and shot us an apologetic smile,"It was nice meeting you. We'll talk soon."

 

"Nice meeting you too," Kasey and I said in unison and I waved my fingers after her.

 

I returned to scanning through our music options.

 

"Okay, tell me what that was all about?" Kasey demanded.

 

"What are you talking about?" I asked innocently not meeting her eyes.

 

"You just threw a jealousy fit!"

 

"Whaaat?"I asked, pretending not to have any idea what she was talking about.

 

"You are totally jealous!" she said accusingly. "Plus you're a lying slut by the way," she added. "I thought you ended things with Frank?"

 

"Would you please keep it down?" I quietly hissed. "Both my brothers are standing right there!"

 

I looked over to check if anyone heard her mini outburst, but all the guys and their girls were so wrapped up in their conversation that no one was even paying any attention to us. Amy said something and Frank cracked up. I tore my eyes away from them and looked at Kasey.

 

"I was going to, but..."

 

"You couldn't find the time to do it in the three weeks since I found out about you two, is that it?"

 

"I..."

 

"Just give it up already! I swear by now you even believe your own lies," she grumbled.

 

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? It's just a little harder than I thought. Frank and I have fun together. Besides, what am I going to say to him, 'Sorry, but I'm done using you for sex now so I'll see you around.'?"

 

She sighed deeply, shaking her head.

 

"I'm telling you that this is going to blow up in your face."

 

"Not if you don't say anything," I disagreed.

 

"Okay!"she said, holding her hands up to silence me. "I give up. I'm not going to force you to break up with Frank..."

 

"We're not together," I corrected her.

 

"Whatever!"she exclaimed. "But from now on, no more lies. I'm your best friend. You owe me the truth and in turn I promise to keep your secret..."

 

"Thank you!" I yelled happily.

 

"But,"she continued, pushing me off of her. "If shit goes down like you two killing each other or if anyone finds out anything about it I will be there to say I told you so."

 

"Okay, I guess that's fair," I nodded with a smile.

 

"Now let's see what booze your brother got," she suggested, leading me towards the house.

 

*

 

Frank

 

I couldn't believe it. Brittany said that she believed me when I explained why Amy gave me a ride home and yet the moment I introduced the two, she threw ajealousy fit. She thought she was all smooth about the whole thing, but Iwasn't stupid and neither was Amy, because the second we left the latter wanted to know what she did wrong. She could tell that Brittany didn't like her. However, all she needed to know was that she didn't do anything wrong and that Brittany was just checking her out. In truth I knew Brittany was still jealous as hell. I guess I should be flattered by her possessiveness, but I wasn't. Sure I was elated by the fact that she at least cared enough about me to actually bother being jealous, but the fact remained that she had nothing to be jealous about. Instead she was acting like a teenager and embarrassing me in front of Amy, a friend and colleague.

 

I sometimes wondered whether this thing between me and the youngest Way was such a good idea. We were worlds apart. I was twenty two and I've been out in the world. I've had jobs and know that's it's not so easy taking care of yourself. Things are a lot different once you leave the little bubble you live in at home. I've grown up over the years. Brittany on the other hand was still ateenager. She was just a kid who didn't really know anything about life, because she was still living under the protective eyes of her parents. Her idea of fun was hanging out and gossiping with her best friend and screwing around with hot guys. Yes, it was true that we had fun together and not just when things were getting hot and heavy, but maybe there was nothing more to it. It's not like it could ever really work. We still fought like cats and dogs sometimes which was to be expected, because obviously we saw things differently. To top it all off her brothers would both kick my ass if they ever found out. The bottom line was that we were just too different.

 

"You okay?"

 

It was Amy who asked. She must've noticed that I was off in my own little world.

 

"Yeah,"I assured her with a smile. "I was just a little deep in thought."

 

"I've noticed that you like to brood..."

 

Gerard burst out laughing, "Frank? Yeah, the kid has a lot of shit going on in his mind, he's a fucking genius at times, but he's hardly the brooding type."

 

Amy looked at me in amusement and I stared down at my shoes, feeling a little self-conscious.

 

"He's right," I admitted. "I kind of like to speak my mind..."

 

"And it's gotten him into a lot of trouble," Gerard added. "Ask me, I know."

 

Amy started laughing, "I guess he's just a natural trouble maker then."

 

"Definitely."

 

"Gee, would you please shut up, you're embarrassing me," I told him quietly, making him laugh heartily.

 

"That's okay, Frank. I won't just. I promise," Amy assured me with a smile.

 

"Hey, Frank could you please get everyone another round of drinks?" Mikey requested, coming from the house with a tray full of patties to put on the barbeque.

 

I eyed the contents suspiciously.

 

"Don't worry, I remembered to get you a vegetarian burger," he smiled, pointing at one of the patties.

 

I grinned broadly and gratefully at the younger Way brother, "Thanks, Mikey."

 

"No problem!" he called over his shoulder, twirling a spatula in his hand.

 

I was still smiling when I walked into the house and found Brittany alone in the kitchen.

 

"Hey."

 

She turned around and smiled, "Hey, Frank. Are you having fun?"

 

I narrowed my eyes at her, "Don't act all sweet and innocent now. I didn't miss your jealousy attack you had earlier."

 

"I wasn't being jealous. I was simply getting to know the girl. I'm quite curious about all those embarrassing moments she mentioned. Maybe you can enlighten me a little later?" she asked sweetly.

 

"You couldn't just act grown up for five seconds and say 'Nice to meet you' like anormal person, could you?" I asked a little annoyed at how lightly she was treating this. I was being completely serious about the matter.

 

"Uhm, it's not like I was yelling profanities at her or accusing her of stealing my boyfriend. I kept it light, didn't I?" she said, pulling a slight face. "Why do you care anyway? If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was your girlfriend and that you're upset that I antagonized her."

 

She looked at me suspiciously, almost accusingly actually.

 

"Don't turn this on me, Brittany. I care because I have to work with her, the entire band does and if you're going to upset her, you'll be making it difficult for all of us."

 

"Oh really? Is that the real reason?" she asked, trailing a finger across my chest.

 

"Yes, now if you don't mind, I'd like to go back outside and enjoy the rest of the night. Please behave," I finished, grabbing her hand and returning it to her side.

 

I turned to the fridge and started pulling out drinks for everyone.

 

"If you want out you can just say so," the blonde teen hissed behind me.

 

I sighed deeply, straightening back up.

 

"It's not that, Brittany. I'm just tired of your games. You're hot and then you're cold. One moment you can't keep your hands off of me and the next you're shouting profanities at me. You pretend so hard not to care, but the second another female shows any interest in me, you flip out. I don't get you and you know what? It's getting tiresome. I don't have time for games anymore."

 

"So you do want out?" she said bitterly.

 

"If you're going to keep acting like a bitch then yeah, I want out," I harshly responded, feeling the hairs in the back of my neck stand up. "No, I didn't mean that, but come on, Brittany. This is ridiculous," I stopped, shaking my head. "We're fighting like a couple and we're not even together."

 

"Only because my brothers would kill you."

 

"Not if we go about it the right way," I disagreed. "If we settle them into the idea of us or if I talk to Gerard about it..."

 

"You're crazy," she laughed. "We can't. I hate you. You hate /me/! It's as simple as that, Frank. Don't forget it," she said, storming out of the kitchen.

 

"Fuck!"I exclaimed in aggravation.

 

At least I now knew where I stood. She was still just the same person she always was and that was never going to change.

 

"Frank, can I talk to you for a second?"

 

I turned to see Gerard poke his head into the room.

 

I nodded and sighed quietly, "Sure. What's up?"

 

"What happened between you and Brittany right now?"

 

I laughed humorlessly, "We had another spat, nothing new."

 

"What was it about this time?" he wanted to know with a frown.

 

I waved it off, "It was nothing."

 

"It's always nothing! Come on, Frank tell me."

 

"She was being a bitch to Amy and I talked to her about it. As expected she didn't like me talking down to her so of course things got ugly, but it's over now," I told him, grabbing the beers from the table.

 

"Frank, wait that's not all I wanted to ask you."

 

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to look at him expectantly.

 

He opened his mouth and closed it again before chuckling to himself and shaking his head."I can't believe what I'm about to ask you... Frank, are you into my sister?"

 

I snorted, "Are you serious?"

 

"Yes,"he said completely serious all traces of humor wiped from his face.

 

"No,"I answered his question. "I'm not. You of all people should know that." I didn't even have to pretend, because at that moment I really didn't like Brittany all too much. "And you know what? I never will be into her, because she'll never change. I tried to get along with her," I said earnestly. "I tried, but as long as she doesn't make an attempt there's only so much that Ican do. She's hell bent on hating me." That last part was absolutely true, because those were her last words to me.

 

"You know what? Forget I asked," he said, grabbing the rest of the drinks off the table. "I guess I was just imagining things."

 

"Yeah, you were."

I stepped out the door and turned back to him.

"Sorry, man. I really hate doing this to you. I know it can't be easy always being stuck between the two of us."

"Honestly, no," he replied. "But I'm kind of used to it after all these years. I think I've actually learned to just ignore it," he laughed.

"That's good," I said also smiling now. "Now I can feel a little less guilty."

"Oh no, you're not getting off that easily!" he exclaimed, wrapping an arm around my neck.

"Shit, Gee that bottle is cold in my neck!" I hissed.

"I know," he laughed, dragging me along and back to the party where everyone else was talking and laughing animatedly.


	14. Chapter 14

Frank

 

It was another one of those rainy days, but then again it seemed to be raining almost all the time nowadays. The clouds were thick and dark grey not letting through a single ray of sunshine. I loved the rain, but sometimes it just became too much and it made me gloomy. There was nobody outside, everyone hiding out in their houses out of the wet which was understandable since it wasn't just wet, but cold as well.

 

I was seated in the passenger's seat while Gerard was driving back home. We stopped recording early today for a change and it was only a little after five. We usually only finished after at least seven in the evenings, but today the producer said we could leave early. I for one was relieved, because it's been a long week.

 

Brittany and I made peace after Mikey's little party and she's been keeping me very busy since. However, we've learned to be more discreet since Gerard's questioning. Obviously we weren't going to meet up at my house either since we did not need to peak my mother's suspicions either. Instead I would borrow my mom's car and we'd go to the little recording studio since it was normally abandoned after hours. If not, we had several other 'rendezvous' spots.

 

The drive home seemed to take extra long today. I stared out the window at the passing houses and finally noticed the familiar houses off our street. A particular house came into view and could see it clearly since the rain had cleared up for a moment. Two people were standing on the front porch. It was a blonde girl wrapped up in the arms of a tall, dark-haired boy.

 

My eyes grew wide and my jaw dropped at the sight that met my eyes and then I frowned deeply. This was certainly unexpected. Gerard sighed deeply from next to me and I tore my eyes from the couple making out to look at him.

 

"I wish she could learn to keep her private life private."

 

I turned back to stare at the pair and saw the guy making his way down the steps towards a silver, clearly convertible, car parked in the street in front of the house. The girl looked at us in horror and turned to go inside the house. I subconsciously crossed my arms over my chest and faced the front again.

 

"You okay?" Gerard wanted to know.

 

"Yeah, who was that guy anyway?"

 

"Brittany's boyfriend. The guy's a total douche bag, at least I think so. Mikey doesn't have a problem with him, but he and I just can't seem to see eye to eye. Maybe I'm just overprotective."

 

I could feel my blood boiling, but I stayed quiet. There was no need to give Gerard any idea of what was really going on inside my mind right now. If I opened my mouth to respond I was sure to spit fire and that would just end badly considering my current position.

 

Gerard finally parked the car in their driveway and got out.

 

"Are you coming in?" he asked.

 

"No, yes..." I stopped my blabbering mouth and thought it over.

 

If I accepted his invitation and accidently bumped into Brittany which was more than likely I would probably not be able to contain my anger, but then again I wasn't stupid and it has been a while since Gerard and I hung out.

 

"Sure," I nodded, following him up the garden path and up the porch steps where mere seconds ago Brittany stood, making out with her /boyfriend/.

 

My fists clenched tightly at my sides as Ithought of this, but I breathed in deeply before following my best friend into the house. The house was surprisingly quiet and I relaxed. Maybe I wouldn't have to face the blonde... I wouldn't have to face Brittany.

 

"Can I get you something to drink? We have beer," Gerard offered, pulling one of the alcoholic beverages from the fridge and handing it to me. "Excuse me a sec, I'll be right back," he said, leaving the room.

 

I sighed deeply, opening the beer bottle and taking a large swig. Beer was probably not going to be strong enough right now, but hopefully it would help me calm down just a little.

 

She didn't do anything wrong. We're not in a relationship. She could do whatever the hell she wanted. I took another gulp of the bitter liquid and slammed the bottle down on the kitchen counter. Alcohol was not going to be the answer to my problems right now. The only thing I could do was talk to her and hear her side of the story though I doubt that there was any way she could explain making out with some other guy, especially when he was her boyfriend.

 

With that thought in mind, I marched towards her room. I noticed the bathroom door being closed and assumed that that was where Gerard was. I continued in the direction of Brittany's room and knocked on her door.

 

"Come in!" she called from inside and Ididn't hesitate to walk in and shut the door behind me.

 

She looked up and jumped the second she saw me.

 

"Frank? I thought it was Gerard... Uh, what are you doing here? I assumed that you would've gone home," she rambled.

 

"Assumed or hoped?" I asked sarcastically.

 

"I..."

 

"Because I didn't. Honestly, I was kind of hoping not to have to talk to you right now, but then I just couldn't help myself. I needed to hear the truth from you, though whether or not I'll believe anything coming from your mouth is a whole different problem."

 

It took everything I had to keep my cool. Iwas trying to keep my breathing slow and even. My fists were clenched tightly at my sides and that's where they stayed.

 

"Frank, I... I can explain."

 

No 'I'm sorry'. Nothing other than the promise of more lies. Her eyes were wide as she spoke. Clearly she knew exactly what I was talking about. She knew that I saw her with that other guy...her boyfriend. The word seemed to ring in my mind.

 

"You have a boyfriend????" I finally exploded.

 

She jumped again at my outburst and looked at me guiltily.

 

"Gerard told you?" she guessed.

 

"Not that he had to. I saw you with that other guy's tongue down your throat! Gerard simply clarified by informing me that said guy was actually your boyfriend!"

 

"Frank," she started, climbing off her bed and coming to stand in front of me. "Calm down and listen to me. Tray /is/my boyfriend, but it's just a cover..."

 

"A cover?" I snorted in disbelief. "Yeah, he had your entire face covered from what I could tell."

 

"You said it yourself, Gerard was getting suspicious so I thought that a boyfriend would keep him from finding out the truth," she carried on. "That's all there is to it."

 

"How long have you been together?" I asked as calmly as possible.

 

At this her face turned slightly paler and I knew that everything she'd told me so far had been a complete lie.

 

"Frank..."

 

"Tell me!" I growled. "The truth."

 

"Three months."

 

Well, I guess that explained everything. Ijust spent the last six weeks sleeping with someone who was already in arelationship. My life definitely could not go to shit any more.

 

"I thought it would be suspicious if Isuddenly broke up with him..."

 

"Stop lying! You're always lying!" I shouted upset. "You are such a fucking hypocrite! Barely a week ago you/were pissed off at me for catching a ride home with a /friend when all this time you've had a fucking /boyfriend/!" I continued, shaking my head in disbelief. "You know what, I don't even care," I said without any emotion, because at this point I was just so completely over it.

 

Yeah, maybe I did give a crap about the beautiful blonde teen standing in front of me, but after this whole incident Iwas simply over it. I was over her games and all her childish actions. I didn't have anyone but myself to blame, because I knew exactly what I was getting myself into the second we started this. Honestly, I couldn't even say that Iwas surprised at how things turned out.

 

"Frank, come on. Don't be like that," she said, smiling sweetly at me as her fingers curled around my upper arm. "It's you I want not Tray."

 

"No, Brittany!" I snapped, pulling my arm from her grip. "I'm not going to be the guy you use to cheat on your boyfriend with..."

 

"You already are..."

 

"That was before I knew you had aboyfriend!" I shouted in outrage. "When you were still lying to me!"

 

She sat back down on her bed and looked up at me innocently. She really was unbelievable. Here I was flipping my shit over her keeping her boyfriend a secret from me and she was acting as if nothing was going on. She had absolutely no remorse. Her next line was the last of it though.

 

"Come on, Frank. Don't you think you're overreacting? I mean it's not like we were actually together."

 

"Exactly... Then you'll have no problem when I walk away," I said flatly, turning my back on her and heading for the door.

 

"Frank!" I heard her feeble outcry as Islammed the door shut behind me, storming off.

 

I only came as far as the living room when Gerard stopped me.

 

"I think you and I need to talk," he said seriously.

 

During my conversation with Brittany, Icompletely forgot that Gerard was still in the house and he probably heard every word of our argument, because I pretty much went ballistic without intending to.

 

"What is it?" I asked a little shortly, but warily, because I wasn't in the mood for whatever he had on his heart right now and I was worried about what he wanted to talk to me about.

 

From the sound of it, it was important. Ialways put his interests before mine and I would gladly do the same now. I was really not in a very good place right now, but maybe whatever was bothering him would take my mind off of what just happened if it didn't have something to do with what happened right now anyways.

 

"It's about you and Brittany," he told me and my heart sank.

 

I gulped, "What about us?"

 

"This whole thing between the two of you has to come to a conclusion, because this is just ridiculous. You both are being ridiculous!" he stated excitedly.

 

I was confused. His reaction was not what Iexpected. Yes, he was upset, but not in the way I thought he would be.

 

He must've read the confusion on my face, because he continued. "You'd think that if you guys became a couple you would argue less, which actually have," he said absentmindedly before he got back to what he was saying. "But it seems to me that your arguments have gotten a lot worse. Before it was just childish bickering, but the things I've heard lately have been bad."

 

"You know," I choked out in shock, feeling all the color drain from my face.

 

Gerard knew and he wasn't going ape shit on my ass. We were cool. At least I wasn't about to lose my best friend as well. Ifelt myself relax even though just a little, because there was still apossibility that the worst was not over yet.

 

"Of course I know," he said matter-of-factly. "I'm not stupid. You're my best friend and she's my sister. Iknow both of you like the back of my hand. You honestly thought I wouldn't figure it out?" he asked a little insulted.

 

"I... How long have you known?"

 

"A while," he shrugged. "Remember that day that Mikey was certain that you had a thing for Kasey?"

 

"You already knew," I realized.

 

"I knew you had some girl on your mind, but I didn't know it was Brittany," he admitted. "I got my first suspicion when Isaw you two dancing in the club that night though. If you two really hated each other you wouldn't have been dancing the way you did."

 

"You saw that?" I asked a little horrified.

 

"I did," he nodded still calmly. "And then we watched movies here that one night and Brittany was hiding behind /you/. Naturally that perked my suspicions even more and besides all of that you were getting along quite nicely all of a sudden. To top it all off, my mom caught the two of you having a little too much fun the other day," he finished with asmall smile. "But I'm guessing that you didn't know about Tray and that's why you were arguing just now?"

 

I nodded sullenly.

 

"I'm sorry man. I love my sister, but she can be a real bitch," he stated, patting me on the shoulder. "Come on," he nodded in the direction of the kitchen. "I think you need that beer right about now."

 

I managed a small smile and nodded, "I really do."

 

"I can't get why you didn't tell me though," he said over his shoulder as we walked to the kitchen.

 

"Where do you even begin to tell your best friend that you're sleeping with his little sister?"

 

"What?"

 

"I was afraid you'd hate me forever once you found out," I finished and stopped walking when I realized he wasn't walking anymore and that he was staring at me furiously. "What's wrong?" I asked confused.

 

"You slept with Brittany?"

 

All the puzzle pieces seemed to fit together now. That was why he was so cool about the whole thing. He thought that Brittany and I liked each other and that we were having a secret relationship. He had no idea that we've been sleeping together and why would he? It's not like we were advertising that little fact. Then I had to go and open my big mouth and blurt out /everything/. Gerard did not look happy.

 

"You've been lying to my face this entire time?" he demanded angrily. "Every single time I asked you and you said nothing, this is what you've been hiding?" he shouted furiously. "It wasn't the fact that you and Brittany had a thing going on, but the fact that you were sleeping together???"

 

The next thing I knew, his fist was flying at me, catching my on the mouth. I could feel the skin splitting and taste the bitterness as blood ran into my mouth.

 

"Fuck!" I exclaimed, grabbing my mouth.

 

"I fucking trusted you!" Gerard spat not even caring. "I trusted you! You're supposed to be my best friend and the last time I checked, best friends don't go around screwing your little sister behind your back!"

 

"I'm sorry, I..."

 

"Fucked my sister in secret and thought that I would never find out? You're a fucking coward, Frank!"

 

"Gerard, stop it!"

 

Both of us turned our heads at the sound of Brittany's voice. Her eyes met mine and she saw my busted lip. I could see her frown deepen.

 

"Have you lost your mind?" she asked her brother. "You can't punch someone with a lip piercing on the mouth. What if it tore out?" she demanded furiously.

 

Gerard looked almost sorry for punching me, but then he obviously remembered why he was pissed off at me and anger clouded his features once more.

 

"Oh, I'm sorry," he responded, pulling back his fist and this time his knuckles connected with my cheek right below my left eye and I winced. "I'll remember the next time I see him again."

 

"Gerard, I swear if you hit him one more time I will kick your ass!" his sister threatened, hurrying over to my side to inspect the damage. "This isn't Frank's fault. It just happened."

 

"Oh, so he had no control over his actions?"Gerard said unconvinced. "Of course, I forgot that he's still a child who has no control over his fucking hormones."

 

Brittany and I looked up at him guiltily. We knew that this was going to be his reaction and that's exactly why we decided to keep it a secret. Unfortunately, secrets always had a way of coming out and now we were paying the price.

 

"You both should've known better," he continued in the same irate tone of voice. "I expected better from both of you. Brittany, you're still a fucking kid..."

 

She opened her mouth to protest, but Gerard carried on without even blinking or stopping to catch a breath. "The fact that you were sleeping with Frank while you had a boyfriend proves that. And Frank..." he stopped talking and shook his head in disappointment."Whatever," he muttered, stomping away.

 

A deafening silence fell over us and Brittany and I both just stared after him in shock. After several minutes, Brittany came back into motion and grabbed my face in her hands, looking deep into my eyes.

 

"Frank, are you okay? Shit, you're bleeding,"she murmured, gently running her thumb over my busted lip.

 

My brain functions kicked in and I took ahold of her hands, removing them from my face. I didn't say anything as Iturned and headed for the front door. Her suddenly fussing over me didn't change what she did. She still had a boyfriend and lied about it. I couldn't even blame Gerard for the way he reacted. He had every right to punch me and if he never talked to me again I would understand that too. I deserved it.

 

"Frank!" Brittany's voice pulled me from my thoughts. "I'm sorry, okay? I'll break up with Tray tomorrow and then we can go back to the way things were."

 

"Don't bother," I said dismissively, stepping out of the house and into the pouring rain.

 

I didn't even take note of the ice cold droplets hitting my skin and drenching my shirt. All I could think about was Gerard's angry and disappointed face. I didn't mean to hurt him. He was my best friend. /Was. /He wasn't anymore, because I don't know if he'll ever forgive me. What did I expect was going to happen? Of course he was going to go ballistic when he found out that I've been having sex with his eighteen year old sister. I would've reacted the exact same way if I were in his position. I knew one thing though, Gerard would forgive me eventually. He wasn't an unreasonable person and he was my brother. There was no telling how long it would take, but he would come around.

 

On the other hand there was still this thing with Brittany. However, I shouldn't even be bothered over it anymore, because it was over. There was nothing between me and the blonde girl anymore. Now I could relax. All secrets were out. Now we could go back to hating each other and fighting all the time. Yeah, that was all there was left to it.

 

I climbed the steps up the porch, but sat down when I reached the top one, just staring at the sheets of rain coming down. I was already soaked and it didn't matter if I stayed outside for a few more minutes. The rain was almost refreshing and I took a deep breath.

 

"Frank? Honey, come inside."

 

I turned around to see my mom standing in the doorway. She must've seen the defeated look on my face, because she grabbed her umbrella and hurried outside, bending down next to me.

 

"What happened? Are you okay?"

 

I gave one look at her worried face and nodded, "I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm just enjoying the rain."

 

"Can you please enjoy it from inside the house? You're going to get sick if you stay out here," she told me caringly, straightening up and offering me a hand.

 

"Thanks, Mom," I murmured, getting to my feet and giving her hand a squeeze to ensure her that I was okay.

 

We stepped into the warmth of the house and I looked around feeling a little out of place.

 

"Hey, Mom is it okay if I borrow your car?There's someone I need to go see."

 

She gave her consent and I grabbed her car keys from the small table standing by the front door. I didn't even bother changing into dry clothes, because the rain wasn't going to stop anytime soon and I was just going to get wet again.

 

The drive to my destination was short and Isoon found myself standing in front of the apartment door of the only person Iknew to talk to right now. My fist came up and knocked on the white wood.

 

"Frank? What the hell happened to you?" Amy asked worriedly, standing aside to let me enter.

 

"It's a long story," I sighed, walking past her.

 

"Hold on a second," she told me, closing the door and leaving the room.

 

I looked around at the open plan apartment. It was nice and tidy, exactly what I would've pictured Amy's place to look like. The living room area was spacious, had a thick white carpet and led straight to the bedroom where a large queen sized bed stood covered with silver bedding. I assumed that the doors to the sides of the room led to the kitchen and bathroom respectively and whichever other room she also had.

 

Movement caught my attention and I turned to see Amy approaching me with a towel in her hands.

 

"Here, dry yourself off," she said, handing me the soft blue towel. "Come here," she requested, walking over to her bed where she forced me to sit down before disappearing into the bathroom again only to return with a first aid kit. "Let's get you cleaned up."

 

I was still using the towel she gave me to dry off the most of the water though I was sure her bed was already wet after Isat down on it with my soaking body.

 

"Okay," she breathed, sitting down next to me and turning my head so I would face her. "Talk to me. What happened?"

 

She pressed a wad of cotton to the bruised skin under my eye and I blinked.

 

"Sorry that I'm bothering you. I just needed to talk to someone outside of the band," I apologized.

 

"Why, Frank I feel insulted. I kind of hoped that you considered me as connected to the band by now," she joked quietly in an attempt to lighten my mood.

 

"I do, but something happened between Gerard and I and it didn't feel right talking to one of the guys about it."

 

"What happened?" she reiterated.

 

I sighed deeply, "I screwed up, literally and metaphorically speaking."

 

"Ah, what did you do, sleep with Gerard's girlfriend?"

 

"His sister actually," I corrected her and she stopped tending to my face to stare at me in shock. "Yeah," I nodded. "Big mistake on my part and very stupid for that matter."

 

"Wow," she muttered, dabbing the white cotton ball with more antiseptic before pressing it to my busted lip. "I'm guessing Gerard's the one who's responsible for your injuries."

 

"He didn't really take the news too well,"I affirmed. "The thing is I never planned for any of this to happen. You met Brittany the other day. She and I used to hate each other when we were kids and even when I returned from New York and joined the band, but then one day something happened and we ended up in bed together. Don't even ask me why, because I don't even know the answer to that myself," I admitted embarrassed. "And after that we just kept at it. Things got more complicated when people close to us became more and more suspicious. However, things were even more complicated than I thought, because I just found out that Brittany has had a boyfriend this entire time."

 

Amy gaped at me, her hands freezing above the small white box where she was busy putting away the leftover cotton balls and antiseptic.

 

"You're kidding me, right?"

 

I shook my head, "Nope. They were a bit tongue-tied when I saw them together for the first time this afternoon."

 

"Damn, that sucks," she said, returning the first aid kit to its place in the bathroom. "What did she say?"

 

"She tried to explain, but she's lied to me so much that I don't believe anything she says and besides, I knew this was never really going to work. This whole boyfriend thing might actually be a good thing. I don't see how else we would've stopped what we were doing."

 

We were quiet for a while, both busy with our own thoughts.

 

"I can't believe I was so stupid," I muttered, shaking my head again. "The worst part is that I was falling for her. I never thought that I would admit it, but I cared about her. Maybe that's why it hurt so much when I saw her in that guy's arms today."

 

"Oh, Frank," she said quietly. "You cared about her and she hurt you."

 

"Whatever right? I should concentrate on getting Gerard's forgiveness. I cannot get kicked out of this band. I'll have nothing left. I can't lose my best friend. It just sucks to know that I deserve this. I know he'll forgive me with time, but until then I'm going to be stuck in a small room with him until we finish recording and I'll have to face him day after day knowing that it's all my fault that we're not on great terms at the moment. I mean, he fucking punched me! This isn't going to be easy. Of all the shit I've done in my life..."

 

"You have to stop beating yourself up, okay? Shit happens and in this case it happened to you. All you can do now is make the best of a bad situation."

 

I nodded, managing a smile, "You're absolutely right. I'm not this wimpy guy."

 

"No you're not," the blonde agreed. "At least now I know why Brittany doesn't like me. She's jealous."

 

"She was even after I told her that she didn't have any reason to be."

 

Amy looked down at her hands entwined on her lap, a slight blush on her cheeks.

 

"Did she?" I asked curiously, wondering if maybe I missed something.

 

Amy was beautiful. I realized that the first time I laid my eyes on her. She was smart and we had good times together. We had pure, uncomplicated fun. She also happened to be the first person I went to when I needed someone to talk to after what happened. Maybe I liked her all this time, but I just never noticed.

 

"She does," I realized and Amy looked up at me in surprise.

 

I don't know who moved or what happened next, but the next thing I knew our lips were connected and moving together. Her fingers became entangled in my dark hair. One of my hands supported my weight while the other found its way to her side.

 

"Wait, Frank stop," she said, kissing my lips once, twice and then pulling away. "I'm not going to be your rebound," she said breathlessly.

 

I nodded, breathing in deeply and sitting back.

 

"Yeah, I need to slow down. My last 'relationship'started too fast and ended in ruins. If we're going to do this, let's do it right."

 

"Yes," she nodded in agreement. "How about some coffee?"

 

"Coffee is good."


	15. Chapter 15

**Frank**  
  
The atmosphere in the studio was tense. Gerard barely looked at me and he didn't say a word to me. The rest of the guys acted normal, still goofing around and chatting away animatedly which made me guess that even though he was mad at me, Gerard didn't tell anyone else what happened. Even Mikey seemed cool. It showed that Gerard didn't completely hate me, because he didn't see the need for everyone else to be mad at me too. Hopefully that meant that he didn't plan on kicking me out of the band either. However, as the day progressed everyone else also became more and more sullen. They probably noticed how tense things between Gerard and I were. Fortunately, no one asked any questions nor did they bring it up. They just let us be.  
  
It was around lunch time and everyone was sitting around the room eating whatever lunch they packed themselves and having some freshly brewed coffee, compliments of the Way brothers who were caffeine addicts. The only person not in the room was Gerard and I walked outside to find him smoking a cigarette. I lit up my own without saying anything. I was surprised that he didn't leave the second I showed up. That's what he's been doing all day. I breathed in a lung full of smoke, slowly letting it out again.  
  
"Look, Gee I'm sorry..."  
  
"Frank, don't," he cut me off without looking at me.  
  
It felt weird not talking to him. We've been best friends for as long as I could remember and we've had our share of arguments, but nothing like this. _Yeah, genius, it's not like you slept with his sister before_. I needed to try harder.  
  
"I..."  
  
He glared at me and I shut my mouth. Maybe now was not a good time or he just needed more time. He only found out the day before so that's understandable. He wasn't going to forgive me just like that. The raven-haired male finished his cigarette and stomped it out on the dirty pavement.  
  
He barely turned around to go back inside when he stopped to look at me.  
  
"You know, Frank when I asked you to try and get along with my sister this was not what I meant."  
  
I nodded slowly, "I know, but, Gerard I would never... What happened between Brittany and I wasn't planned at all and I swear I didn't take advantage of her."  
  
"I didn't think that," he assured me seriously. "I at least know you better than that."  
  
With that he disappeared into the building, leaving me to finish my cigarette alone. When I returned, Gerard was already singing again and I sat down, keeping my eyes on him as I listened to his voice sounding hauntingly beautiful as he sang _Demolition Lovers_. Mikey noticed me come in and turned to look at me questioningly.  
  
"What's up with you and my brother?"  
  
"What are you talking about?" I asked, pretending to be confused.  
  
"You guys are completely ignoring each other for one and the tension between you is unbearable. Don't even try to lie and tell me that it's nothing, because all of us have noticed," Ray was the one to explain.  
  
"I honestly don't know what you're talking about," I lied. "We're both just focusing on the making of the record, that's all."  
  
"Oh, bullshit," Matt piped in. "You guys have some kind of beef."  
  
"We're being civilized..."  
  
"Civilized is not the same as nice. The two of you aren't being your usual crazy selves," Mikey responded. "And what happened to your face? It looks like someone hit you."  
  
I ducked my head, letting my hair fall forward in an attempt to cover up the bruise on my cheek. Unfortunately there was nothing I could do about my busted lip. At least the swelling has gone down.  
  
"Who did you piss off?" Ray also wanted to know.  
  
"No one, it was an accident."  
  
"Let me guess, you walked into a door?"Mikey said sarcastically.  
  
"No, no, it was definitely a wall," Matt disagreed teasingly, causing everyone but me to laugh.  
  
"Frank and I are fine," Gerard said and everyone turned to see him standing in the doorway between the recording room and the small workstation room we were in.  
  
I don't know what everybody else saw since he kept his facial expression smooth and calm, but I could see in his eyes that what he said did not coincide with what was going on inside his head. However, my best friend has always been very good at keeping his outer appearance serene even when he had some storm or conflict on the inside.  
  
Instead of feeling better that he was covering for me like always I felt a lot worse now than I did before if that was even possible. I really did the lowest thing possible when I slept with his little sister. Maybe if I fessed up about it sooner things would've turned out differently. Unfortunately the one time in life I should've been honest I decided to lie and keep secrets. Next time I'll definitely know better.  
  
"Really?" Mikey asked skeptically, crossing his arms in front of him as he stared at his brother and I in turn.  
  
"Really, Mikey we're fine. I guess we've just been spending way too much time together and don't have all that much to say to each other," the older Way brother insisted. "Right, Frank?" he said suddenly looking at me.  
  
I was caught completely off guard by his direct question to me and I almost freaked out, but then I realized he wasn't really talking to me, he just needed me to confirm his lie.  
  
"Sure... Of course," I nodded. "That's exactly what it is," I chuckled nervously, putting a hand behind my neck.  
  
 _Why the hell did I feel so self-conscious right now?_  
  
"Now can we go back to recording?" Gerard asked, eyebrows raised expectantly.  
  
"You have to. You don't have forever to make this record," the engineer spoke up and only then did all of us remember that he was also in the room.  
  
Gerard turned and walked back into the recording booth while everyone went back to listening. From the corner of my eye I saw Mikey sitting down next to Ray and I sat stood slightly straighter in an attempt to hear what he was saying.  
  
"They don't have much to say to each other?Yeah, right. They used to spend _all_ their time together which was more than too much and it never seemed to bother them before."  
  
Ray nodded his head, "I know, but there's no point in pushing them to tell us if they clearly don't want to. This is Frank and Gerard we're talking about. If they had an argument they'll sort it out themselves."  
  
Mikey sighed and nodded in agreement,"You're right. I'll drop it. I just can't help being so damn curious though."  
  
At this the puff-head started laughing,"Yeah, Mikey, but that's the way we know and love you."  
  
A soft smile found its place on my lips. I agreed with all of us loving Mikey. He was such a great kid. I loved all these guys to hell and back. That's why it was such a huge relief to know that I could stay. Gerard knew how much this band meant to me and he would never be childish enough to punish me by kicking me out of it.  
  
The end of the day came leaving me without a ride yet again. This time for different reasons of course, because even though he was going home, Gerard obviously wasn't going to offer me a ride home. I doubt that I would want to go with him anyway. It would be one hell of a long and awkward ride.  
  
Fortunately I had some guardian angel looking over me, because Amy's white Jeep pulled into a parking spot just as I stepped out of the building.  
  
"I'm glad to see I'm just in time."  
  
"You came all the way here just for me?" I asked surprised.  
  
The blonde smiled brightly at me. "Yeah, I figured you might need a ride considering the sour relationship between you and Gerard at the moment."  
  
"You're a star," I grinned, getting in next to her. "Can I ask you a favor?" I asked as she revved the engine and started in the direction of my house. When the female nodded, I continued, "Can we go somewhere other than my house. I know you didn't plan on babying me tonight, but if I go home now I'll just be sitting around all night with no one besides my mother for company. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom, but tonight, at the moment, I can't sit at home doing nothing, because I'm going to go out of my mind."  
  
She nodded and turned off of our original route.  
  
"I know just the place."  
  
"Oh yeah?" I wanted to know curiously.  
  
"U-huh," she smiled secretively, keeping her eyes on the road.  
  
My eyes grew wide and a huge grin spread across my face when we arrived at our destination shortly after.  
  
"The arcade?"  
  
"I figured you might like it," Amy smiled, getting out and locking the car. "You ready to have some fun?"  
  
The arcade was bustling with kids of all ages. The music from the machines filled the air as well as the sound of laughter. You could practically feel the fun in the air if that was possible.  
  
"I challenge you to a game of street fighter," Amy declared, holding up a handful of game tokens.  
  
"I accept," I said definitely, grabbing half of them and leading the way to the nearest machine.  
  
It was an intense game, both of us mashing buttons and jumping up and down in excitement.  
  
"No, no, fuck!" I exclaimed as she kicked my ass yet again. "Shit, I can't believe you beat me."  
  
"Yeah, well you kind of suck at arcade games," she noted.  
  
"I do not! You just clearly have nothing else to do in your free time."  
  
"Come on, Loser. Maybe you'll be better at racing," she laughed, pushing her way through a group of teens with me following short on her heels.  
  
  
  
 *****  
  
  
  
 **Brittany**  
  
" **What???** " Kasey screeched in shock."Frank saw you kissing Tray?"  
  
"They came home earlier. Tray left the same time he always did and that just happened to be the same time they came home yesterday."  
  
"And that's what you're focusing on, the fact that they came home from the studio early? What about Frank freaking out and pretty much dumping your lying, cheating ass?" the girl asked bluntly knowing that her straight forward question wouldn't even bother me, because Iwas used to it and I simply didn't care.  
  
"He overreacted and besides, he couldn't dump me even if he wanted to, because we were never together."  
  
"That's not the point, Brittany. Frank obviously cared about you otherwise he wouldn't have been so upset when he found out that you had a boyfriend," Kasey tried to reason, sitting up straighter in the desk chair.  
  
"Frank was just sour, because he thought that I used him," I stated, turning my head and staring up at the ceiling where I lay sprawled out on my bed.  
  
Kasey frowned in confusion before getting up and walking over to the bed and moving her head into my view, forcing me to look at her.  
  
"Why would that upset him if that was supposedly what the two of you were doing, you know using each other for sex?"  
  
"I don't know," I huffed, pushing her away."Maybe he had PMS and was a little cranky."  
  
I know I was being a bitch, but the only reason I told Kasey about everything was because she was my best friend and she was bound to find out about it eventually. The girl always had a way of simply knowing my deepest darkest secrets. I guess nothing I did shocked her anymore. I wasn't really in the mood to talk about it though, because honestly I was also upset by what happened. Frank 'dumped' me and then my brother beat him up. That's not cool.  
  
Frank wasn't supposed to find out about Tray, ever. Sure I liked Tray, otherwise he wouldn't have been my boyfriend, obviously, but truth be told he ended up being my distraction whenever Frank was too busy with the record and couldn't keep me entertained. It was probably wrong to keep them both around, but I was selfish like that. I always needed to have it all. Now all I had was Tray and even though I haven't seen him either since yesterday, I couldn't help already feeling over it. Tray wasn't what Iwanted, wasn't who I wanted.  
  
"Brittany!" Kasey chided. "You're really being stupid _and_ childish about all of this." She sighed before continuing. "What about Gerard finding out about the two of you?"  
  
I shrugged uncaringly, "I don't know. I haven't seen or spoken to him since the whole incident."  
  
There was a silence during which we could hear sounds coming from the kitchen where my mother was starting on dinner and then there was the sound of a car pulling into the driveway.  
  
"You know, it's terrible that I'm not even surprised that you seem unbothered by all of this." Kasey said, heading for the door, ready to go home since it was already after six. "You have no conscience, woman."  
  
I chuckled at her statement, coming to my feet and following Kasey.  
  
"I'm not completely heartless, you know?" I said as we stepped out of my room and started down the hallway. "I do feel bad that my brother punched him. I did not see that coming...and neither did Frank,"she giggled. "I totally would've nursed him if he gave me a second's chance."   
  
We both giggled, but bit the sound back as we rounded the corner only to be met by Gerard's stern face. No one said anything and the silence seemed to drag on forever when in truth it was only a few seconds.  
  
"Yeah, I got to go, but I'll see you tomorrow," Kasey stuttered nervously, practically running to the door.  
  
"Uhm, yeah," I nodded with a straight face."I'll see you at school."  
  
I turned back to my brother, but he stepped around me and started in the direction of his own bedroom.  
  
"Gee!" I called after him.  
  
The raven-haired male made a waving gesture with one of his hands, "I don't want to hear it, Brittany."  
  
I pursed my lips together. People knew and accepted me for the selfish person I was and nobody questioned anything I did anymore. Maybe that wasn't the best thing or the greatest way to be known, but again, I didn't really care. I agreed with my brother, be yourself. Then there were those certain few people who didn't eat up all my crap or give me whatever the hell I wanted. Those people were Kasey, Frank and Gerard. My parents knew about me being a spoiled brat, but they had no idea about my bad side which was good otherwise they probably would've grounded me for life and I've never been grounded. Kasey was always straight forward and told me exactly what she thought about everything I did and a lot of times she tried to dissuade me from my crazy and mean ideas. However, usually she gave up and just went along with it so in truth she also let me have my way. Frank didn't give a shit about what I wanted. Ironically, he was probably one of the people that knew me better than anyone, because I never felt the need to impress him and he saw the real me. He knew the bad me and lately he's gotten to know the good side of my personality as well. Frank didn't let me have my way out of spite or maybe it was because he was the one person who didn't want me to always get everything that I wanted. Finally, there was Gerard. Gerard knew me like the back of his hand and of all the people in my life, he was the one person I never wanted to disappoint. I also never beat around the bush when it came to him. I couldn't fool him anyway as yesterday's little encounter proved. Unfortunately he seemed to be upset with me and I hated that. I hated feeling like I let him down in some way. I needed to fix the situation somehow.  
  
"Gerard," I called out again before following him into his room.  
  
"What do you want, Brittany? I'm not in the mood."  
  
"I know and that's the problem. You're mad at me."  
  
"Yes, I'm mad at you!" he practically shouted, making me jump. "Do you blame me? What you did was..." He stopped talking and shook his head in clear disappointment.  
  
I was about to retaliate and tell him that he had nothing to be mad about. I didn't do anything to him and how I planned to spend my time was up to me. However, now that I provoked the snake it was going to bite me in the ass.  
  
"You lied! You lied to me, to Mikey; you lied to Frank and Tray. I mean what were you thinking?" he demanded angrily, eyes boring into mine.  
  
I didn't know what to say. My brother has never been this mad at me before.  
  
"I never thought you would sink so low as to cheat on your boyfriend. For crying out loud, Brittany! You couldn't do it with anyone else, but you had to use my best friend?" he yelled, throwing his hands up in aggravation. "That's low even for you and do you know what the irony is? I knew this was going to happen."  
  
I looked at him in shock, because I didn't expect that last sentence.  
  
"I knew that the second you and Frank gave each other half a chance, you would actually like each other, though I didn't expect you to just jump in bed together. I thought better of both of you."  
  
I decided to keep my mouth shut throughout his entire rant, because if I said anything it would probably be something stupid and I'll only end up making things worse than they already were.  
  
"I'll be honest with you, Brit, I'm not half as angry at Frank as I am at you," the male with the raven colored hair spoke more quietly. "No, I wasn't na-ive enough to think that you were some sweet little girl, but I didn't expect you to sleep with just any guy..."  
  
"But it wasn't just any guy," I retorted a little irked. "It was Frank."  
  
"Exactly!" he snapped. "He's my best friend and you hurt him." Gerard sighed deeply, "What are you going to do about Tray?"  
  
His question caught me off guard and I didn't know how to respond immediately.  
  
"Uhm, I'm not sure. Things between me and Frank are over and done with so I guess he doesn't have to know. Things can go back to normal now."  
  
"You know what, Brittany? Just go," he murmured turning his back on me. "I've had a really long day."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Just go!" he said loudly. "Talk to me once you've decided to grow up."  
  
That last part hurt, but mostly because I knew he was right. I was still a child and that's why I was handling everything like a little kid. Maybe it was time to grow up. I quietly turned around and left his room, shutting the door behind me. Gerard had every reason in the world to be mad at me. It was hard, but I guess I deserved all his anger. I couldn't even be mad at him for once again placing Frank's interests ahead of mine, because even Kasey pointed out that I hurt the guitarist. Was I really a bad person for wanting what I wanted? I wasn't going to dwell on it all night. Tomorrow was another day and I'll figure out what to do then.  
  
I returned to my room and fell down on the bed with a deep sigh. If I knew that things were going to end up like this I most likely would've done things differently. Maybe I would've left Tray the second Frank and I started sleeping together or maybe the thing between us never would've started in the first place. Now I was alone, but that could change if I talked to Frank.  
  
With that thought in mind, I grabbed my phone and dialed his number. The phone rang and rang and rang and finally I reached his voice-mail box. Of course he wasn't going to answer. I couldn't really blame him. I tried calling again, but yet again I only heard the voice-mail message which was really frustrating, but I was the one who was wrong and Frank was going to listen to me one way or another.  
  
"Frank, it's me. I know you're mad and you're perfectly right, I was wrong. I should've told you and I shouldn't have let things get to this point. I'm sorry."  
  
I sighed deeply wanting to say more, but not exactly sure what.  
  
"I'm sorry. Please don't be mad. I really need to talk to you."  
  
I hung up after those words. Now all I needed to do was wait. If he got the message, he'll call back. If only we could talk, we could sort things out. I just thought this when the phone started ringing frantically next to me. It didn't take a second to grab the ringing object, press answer and put the phone to my ear.  
  
"Hello? Frank?"  
  
There was a short silence on the other end before a familiar voice reached my ears and my heart dropped.  
  
"Uhm, no, at least not the last time I checked," Kasey giggled. "Why would Frank be calling you anyway? Isn't he still pissed off at you?"  
  
I sighed loudly as if the world was resting on my shoulders.  
  
"Kasey."  
  
"Yes! That's me. You know you can sound a little happier to hear from me," she told me sounding a little miffed at my response.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're such a bitch, but you'll never change and I've come to accept that fact," she spoke, knowing full well that her unnecessary chattering was only annoying me more. She was just as much of a bitch as I was sometimes. Fighting fire with fire I guess. "I called to see if you were still alive, because your brother did not look too happy earlier and I was worried that my dear and sensitive friend would die if he said one harsh word, but I hear that you're still you so I guess you're fine. I'll leave you alone now."  
  
"Thank you, friend!" I yelled sarcastically into the phone right before she hung up.  
  
I stared at my phone after that, silently begging for it to ring, begging for Frank's name to flash across the screen. Hours later, I was still staring at the small device, but it became more and more obvious that he didn't plan on calling me back and my eyes drooped shut.


	16. Chapter 16

**Frank**  
It was sometime after noon on Sunday and I was in the kitchen helping my mom clean up after lunch. Amy was going to come over in a bit and we were going laze around the house, watching movies and pigging out on popcorn and other snacks.  
“So who is this girl coming over?” my mom asked interestedly.  
“Amy. She’s the band’s legal rep. We’ve become pretty good friends so we’re going to hang out a bit outside of the recording studio.”  
“Oh,” she nodded and I could tell that the gears in her head were turning.  
“What are you thinking?” I curiously wanted to know.  
My mother shook her head, “It’s nothing.”  
“Mom?”  
“I’m just confused, that’s all. A few weeks ago you seemed really close to Brittany Way and now you have this Amy girl coming over,” she said, turning to look at me a little worriedly.  
It was clear what she was trying to say and I chuckled quietly.  
“Mom, you can relax, I’m not dating either of them. Like I said, Amy and I are friends. As for Brittany, we’re not even talking at the moment. You don’t have to worry about me dating two girls at once. You at least raised me better than that,” I grinned broadly at her and she smiled back.  
It wasn’t a lie. Brittany and I weren’t talking right now. She’s called several times and left multiple messages, but I’ve heard enough from her to last me a lifetime. As for me and Amy just being friends, that part was also true. Sure we kissed the other night, but that was a onetime occurrence and since then we’ve just been having innocent fun together, no strings attached.  
“I’m happy to hear that. I was just worried that that was the case, but I believe you if you say there’s nothing to worry about.”  
The doorbell rang at that point and I leaned in to plant a kiss on my mother’s cheek before hanging up the cloth in my hands and going to answer the door.  
“Am I late?” Amy asked when I opened the door and greeted her with a smile.  
“No, you’re just on time. Come on in,” I invited, stepping aside and waiting for her to pass so I could close the door.  
My mom came in from the kitchen and smiled at the blonde.  
“Hello, I’m Linda. You must be Amy.”  
I knew I could always trust the older woman to be polite.  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Iero,” Amy smiled back brightly. “You have a lovely home. This is the first time Frank has invited me inside,” she continued, looking around.  
“Next time you give my son a ride home, ring the doorbell and I’ll invite you in.”  
“I don’t like the direction this conversation is going in,” I said out loud. “If it continues you’re going to end up making me out as the villain which I’m not. Would you like something to drink before we start watching movies?”  
The two women laughed at me and my mom excused herself.  
“Something to drink will be nice, Frank,” Amy said, finally turning to look at me after my mom left the room. “I like your mom. She’s nice.”  
“Yeah, she is a sweetheart.”  
“It makes me miss my parents all of a sudden.”  
“Aw, do you need a hug,” I teased, giggling as I wrapped my arms around her.  
“Frank, for as much as you’re a good guy, you can be quite a little shit,” she laughed in response, gently disentangling herself from me.  
“I was just trying to be nice,” I huffed in fake hurt. “Water, soda, juice, beer?”  
“It’s barely two in the afternoon, Frank. Juice is fine.”  
“Juice it is!” I said, pulling the juice box from the fridge. “Do you have any idea of what you want to watch?”  
“I’ll go check out your selection,” she said, pushing herself away from the table and leaving the kitchen.  
I hurriedly filled two glasses with orange juice and grabbed a bag of chips from the cupboard before making my way into the living room where the blonde beauty was scanning through my movie selection.  
“Wow, you have quite an interesting taste in movies. Is _Dawn of the Dead_ okay?” she checked, pulling one of the movies from its place and holding it up to me.  
“It’s perfect.”  
She popped it in and ran back to plop down on the couch next to me. We ripped open the bag of chips and sat back to enjoy the movie. I guess I didn’t realize how much the constant recording and working exhausted me though, because we were only about half way through the movie when I dosed off.  
  
***  
  
The sound of a ringing doorbell interrupted my unconscious state and I moved around, feeling my back sting uncomfortably. I groaned, realizing that I must have fallen asleep on the couch again. It was one piece of furniture that definitely did not treat my body well, though I couldn’t decide whether it was because it was too comfortable or because it was not comfortable at all.  
Two voices reached my ears and I sat up straighter in an attempt to hear better.  
“Why am I even surprised to see you here? I should’ve known you would swoop in the second I was out of the picture.”  
It was Brittany’s sharp voice I heard first and then Amy responded in a much calmer voice than the teen.  
“Jealousy is a real bitch, but you’re wrong. Frank and I are just friends and since you used him and he doesn’t really want to talk to you and since Gerard isn’t talking to him right now, I’m all he’s got. If you want to bitch about it go tell it to someone who cares. I know I don’t know you, but from what I’ve heard you’re quite spoiled, but I’m not one of your friends and I’m definitely not Frank or Gerard. You’re not going to have your way with me by whipping your hair or flashing me a brilliant smile.”  
I sank lower on the couch at her words. Brittany was going to hate me for this, because everything Amy knew about her, she heard from me, but I couldn’t deny that I was enjoying this. If things got ugly I might cut in, but until then I’ll just stay safely here on the couch, listening to their conversation.  
“I wasn’t going to,” Brittany bit back. “I don’t care what you think of me. Besides, whatever’s going on between me and Frank is none of your business.”  
“You bet it’s my business,” Amy disagreed heatedly. “You hurt Frank.”  
“I know and that’s why…”  
“You want to spin another lie?” Amy cut her short. “Sorry to inform you, but Frank is not your little toy. He’s a person and, believe it or not, he cares about you.”  
“Then why the hell won’t he talk to me?” Brittany demanded angrily. “Where is he? Frank?”  
I sunk even lower on the couch, my lower body practically on the ground by now. There was no way I was going to talk to her. I was probably being childish, but I had to have my moment. I doubt that she was here to apologize. The only reason she was here was to make demands and to ask me why we couldn’t just keep doing what we were doing. _It worked so well after all._ Things didn’t work that way in my mind. I don’t share even if we weren’t officially a couple.  
“Frank!?”  
“Uhm, he obviously doesn’t want to talk to you otherwise he would’ve responded, don’t you think?” the older female asked smartly.  
“I don’t care. If you would be kind enough to step aside and let me in…”  
“Frank is sleeping, Brittany. I swear. Maybe if you came back a little later?”  
There was a short silence before Brittany spoke.  
“Fine,” she muttered shortly. “I’ll come back later and hopefully you won’t be here anymore.”  
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Amy said sweetly.  
I heard the door close and then Amy appeared in the doorway.  
“You’re awake,” she noticed in surprise.  
“I was and you two had quite an interesting conversation,” I giggled, standing up from the couch.  
The blonde with the steel grey eyes blushed, “Yeah, I thought you were asleep.”  
“I know,” I grinned broadly. “Thanks for standing up for me. I appreciate it.”  
The girl took a deep breath, “You’re welcome.”  
“So are we going to hit the streets? I don’t really want to be here when Brittany comes back,” I laughed, grabbing Amy’s hand and pulling her after me.  
“Frank, you’re such a kid sometimes.”  
“I know. I’m adorable,” I said cockily. “You gotta love me.”  
“It’s impossible not to,” she agreed, throwing me her car keys and getting in on the passenger’s side. “Let’s go.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Frank** **'s POV**  
I just finished styling my hair when I heard a car pull up in the driveway. Who on earth could that be? It was barely after six thirty in the morning. I walked over to the window and looked out to see Gerard’s car. That was even odder. There was no point wondering about it. I hurriedly shoved my feet into a pair of dirty old converse and made my way down stairs.  
“Frank, are you leaving?” my mother called from the kitchen.  
“Yeah, bye, Mom!” I called back, opening the front door and stepping out of the house.  
I was halfway down the garden path before I stopped walking, surprised to see Gerard leaning casually against his car, coffee in hand and eyes covered with large sunglasses.  
“Morning, Gee,” I greeted him wearily, approaching him.  
“Hey, Frank,” he nodded in response.  
I finally reached him and watched him curiously, trying to figure out what he was doing at my house when as far as I was concerned he was still mad at me. Suddenly he reached out another cup of coffee to me.  
“Peace offering.”  
My heart swelled with happiness.  
“Thanks,” I muttered a little stunned, accepting the coffee and taking a sip.  
As the silence dragged on, I couldn’t help a broad grin spreading across my face.  
“Yeah, I was waiting for that,” he chuckled.  
“So we’re cool?” I checked just to be certain.  
Gerard put his coffee down on the hood of his car and turned to me with a smile.  
“Of course, Frankie,” he smirked, grabbing me around the neck and ruffling my hair.  
“Ah, fuck, Gerard!” I swore, because his actions were unexpected and caused me to drop the coffee in my hand, spilling its contents all over the driveway and besides that, he was messing up my hair that I just fixed. He let go and picked his coffee back up. “Come on. We don’t want to be late for work and I have to swing by the house again to pick up Mikey.”  
“Hey, Gee I don’t mean to push my luck,” I started, getting in on the passenger’s side. “But why the sudden forgiveness?”  
“I’ll be honest, I might have forgiven you, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not still mad, because I am at both you and Brittany and for various reasons.”  
“Like what?”  
“Because you’re both acting like children!” the raven-haired male exclaimed sternly. “Really, Frank? Just sleeping together? What…? I don’t even want to know,” he said with a shake of his head. “To top it all off, she has a damn boyfriend.”  
I resisted the urge to grumble at this.  
“In my defense, I didn’t know.”  
“I know you didn’t know and that’s another reason I’m mad at Brittany. I didn’t expect this from her. I know my sister is no saint, but this is just too much.”  
“She’s still young though,” I subconsciously pointed out. “She’s still learning.”  
“Yeah, but she needs to grow the fuck up,” Gerard growled. “Life isn’t going to wait for her. I know it’s not like she committed a murder or something, but screwing around in high school… what if she gets pregnant? Then what? She’ll never get anywhere, because she’ll have to spend the rest of her life raising an illegitimate child instead of making something out of her life.”  
I didn’t respond. The car stopped in front of the Way’s house and he honked loudly. The front door swung open and Mikey stepped out, jogging across the lawn towards us. He hopped into the back seat and greeted me cheerily.  
“Hey, Frank. You guys ready for another long day in the studio? I can’t wait for this record to be finished and out on the streets. We are going to be the best fucking band ever!” he exclaimed enthusiastically.  
“I like your enthusiasm,” I grinned broadly. “I’m going to need it when I go into recording today.”  
The drive to the small studio seemed faster than it did the last week, but maybe it was due to the fact that the air between Gerard and I was clear. I suddenly looked forward to the day ahead.  
  
***  
  
 **Brittany** **'s POV**  
“I have the best sister in the world,” Mike declared when I showed up at the studio around lunch time with a paper bag full of food.  
“I brought enough for all of you and extras for anyone who might be helping you with recording,” I informed him as he took the bag from me and smelled the food.  
“I’m starving,” he announced walking deeper into the room. “You know, Brit if you weren’t my sister and I didn’t already have a girlfriend, I would marry you right now.”  
“Yeah,” I said, pulling a face. “I’m going to go look for Gerard.”  
“Are you guys talking again?”  
His question surprised me and he must’ve seen this on my face, because he continued, “Like I wouldn’t notice that you two are fighting. He’s out back having a coffee and smoke break. I swear I thought he was addicted to the stuff before, but lately, if it were possible, our dear brother would O/D on the two substances, especially caffeine.”  
I chuckled, leaving the room and exiting the building through the backdoor.  
“Hey, Gerard,” I greeted my big brother. “Aren’t you cold out here?”  
He looked at me and gave me a small smile. “No, the coffee warms me up from inside,” he told me, bringing the cup to his lips as if to emphasize his point.  
“I brought food,” I told him, stuffing my hands in my pockets and hunching my shoulders up against the sudden cold weather of New Jersey. A few weeks ago it still felt like summer, but nowadays it never stopped raining and it became quite cold outside. “You might want to hurry inside before Mikey eats everything. Apparently he’s starving.” I attempted to make small talk. In truth, I was testing the waters. I wanted to see how far I could go before he snapped or cut me off.  
“Brit, you can relax. I’m not going to bite,” Gerard assured me calmly.  
“You’re not?” I gaped at him.  
I was so sure that he was still mad at me and yet here he was all cool and collected.  
“Aren’t you still mad at me?” I wondered carefully, because I didn’t want to push the wrong buttons.  
“I am, but I can’t ignore you forever,” he explained, flicking ash from his cigarette onto the dirty gravel of the back parking lot. “But you need to fix things,” he stated firmly. “This current set-up isn’t working.”  
“Don’t worry, Frank isn’t talking to me anyway so there’s really no problem anymore,” I muttered grudgingly.  
“Yeah, but, Brittany you can’t even blame him for not wanting to talk to you. I know you guys weren’t official or anything, I know that now, but you were leading him on.”  
“What do you suggest I do, go on my knees and beg for his forgiveness?” I asked smartly, because that was not going to happen. I still had my dignity.  
He chuckled lightly, “I know you would never do that. You would rather keep your pride and lose Frank in the process than offer up your dignity for his forgiveness.”  
I gaped at him, shocked at how close he got it.  
“I told Frank this morning that you need to grow up,” he continued and I gritted my teeth, biting my tongue to keep from spitting venom over the fact that once again Frank enjoyed favor over me. I probably should’ve guessed that Gerard would forgive Frank before he would forgive me, but it was so unfair.  
“You need to figure out what you want. You can’t keep two guys dangling. It’s not fair to either of them. Dating two guys at the same time might have been cute when you were sixteen, but since then I would hope that you’ve grown up a little. People have feelings, you know?”  
“I know, but Gee…”  
“You’re going to have to choose,” he continued, cutting me off.  
“What?” I gaped at him in confusion. By now he probably thought that I was a fish on dry land considering how much I’ve been gaping at him. He just continued to catch me off guard.  
“You heard me,” he said with certainty. “And you know I’m right.”  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Tray is my boyfriend.”  
“Yes, but do you still want him to be?”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded.  
Gerard sighed deeply. “I don’t know if you’re just lying to me or if you’re lying to yourself as well.”  
Now I was thoroughly confused. What on earth was he getting at?  
“You care about Frank and there’s nothing wrong with that. Honestly, I don’t have a problem with it if you guys do decide to get together…”  
I let out a humorless laugh, “Uhm, what?”  
Gerard stomped out his cigarette with another sigh and looked me dead in the eyes.  
“You didn’t see your reaction when I hit Frank.”  
“I told you that I was going to kick your ass.”  
“And your facial expression assured me that you meant every word,” he stated.  
“So?” Maybe I was being slow, but I still didn’t see where he was going with this.  
“You were being protective. The look on your face when I hit him said it all. You were upset at the prospect of Frank being hurt and that is why you reacted so strongly,” my brother explained.  
“Yeah, I was shocked that you punched your own best friend. Big deal.”  
“Think of it what you want, Brittany, but I’m telling you that you need to figure it out. You need to think long and hard about what you’re going to do. Fix it.”  
With that he crumpled up his empty coffee cup and tossed it in a nearby trash can before heading back to the studio.  
It felt like he just emptied a bucket of icy water over me. Was he right in suspecting that I had deeper feelings for Frank? Did I _like_ Frank?  
  
***  
  
 **Frank** **'s POV**  
“I am not going to lose to a girl,” I said, laughing as I rolled us over and pinned Amy’s hands above her head.  
“That’s so sexist,” she retorted, managing to get her hands free and push me off her.  
I waved my forefinger at her, “Uh-uh-uh, I’m watching movie.”  
With that I sat back against her bed’s headboard and tried to focus on the television screen, but the beautiful blonde clearly had other plans.  
“Amy, stop it,” I giggled as she hit me with a pillow. “I’m telling you that I’m not kidding…”  
There was a loud ringing and I answered my phone without checking the caller ID.  
“Yeah?”  
“Frank?” the voice sounded surprised.  
It was Brittany and I wasn’t even shocked to hear the surprise in her voice. She probably couldn’t believe that I actually picked up since I haven’t answered any one of her previous one hundred and ten calls. Okay, maybe it was only like thirteen or fourteen calls, but the point was that this is the first time I’ve spoken to her since our fall out about a week ago.  
“Stop it,” I said, looking up at Amy who was playfully pinching my cheeks. “No, don’t do that,” I giggled when she climbed on top of me and poked my sides. Taking a deep breath to compose myself, I turned my attention back to the phone call. “What do you want, Brittany?”  
“Can we talk?”  
“Uhm,” I grabbed one of Amy’s hands and held it to my chest. “I’m kind of busy at the moment.”  
“Come on, Frank. You have to talk to me sooner or later. We have to discuss this,” Brittany said firmly.  
“Why?” I wanted to know and Amy stopped pestering me, looking at me questioningly.  
There was a brief pause at the other end and then she simply said, “Because.”  
“Look, Brittany I’m honestly busy right now, but we’ll talk eventually,” I told her, hanging up and dropping the phone back on the bedside table.  
I wasn’t being childish, but until Brittany knew what she wanted I wasn’t going to talk to her. I didn’t expect an apology, but maybe I needed to hear her admit that what she did was wrong. After that, the best of luck to her and her boyfriend.  
We got to know each other a lot better in the six weeks we were sleeping together. As soon as we talked this through we could be friends. There were no guarantees that we’d never fight, let’s not expect a miracle now, but we could get along. We were past the point of childish bickering as Gerard called it. We could be civilized towards each other from now on.  
“What did Brittany want?” Amy wanted to know when I didn’t say anything.  
“She wants to talk.”  
“About?”  
“Well,” I started as the female slid off of me and made herself comfortable next to me on the bed. “I’m guessing she wants to talk about her boyfriend and us.”  
“Why? You saw her kiss him. What could she possibly say to make up for that or at least to fix the problem?” Amy wondered incredulously.  
“Because,” I gave her Brittany’s answer. “I don’t know, but she’s right. We should probably talk at some point or another. Maybe then things can go back to normal.”  
“Back to when you guys were still sleeping together?” the blonde asked tentatively.  
I looked over at her in slight wonder.  
“No, I doubt that. I’d like to give myself more credit and assume that I won’t be stupid enough to get drawn in a second time. Why do you ask?”  
She shifted awkwardly and avoided making eye contact.  
“I like you, Frank. You’re a good guy. You deserve better than to be someone’s boy toy,” she told me earnestly.  
“I would really like to kiss you right now,” I murmured quietly.  
It was true, I really did want to kiss her in that moment. No, I wasn’t some gullible teeny who fell for sweet words spoken. I believed every word Amy said. I trusted her to no end. She was gorgeous and I was very attracted to her. This was true since the first time I saw her. Her steel grey eyes mesmerized me even now.  
“Then do it,” she said barely above a whisper, leaning in and pressing her lips to mine.  
They were soft and perfectly shaped. Kissing Amy felt good. It felt natural, uncomplicated. It felt right. There was no rush and it wasn’t out of pure lust. It was different from when I kissed Brittany…  
“Wait, Amy…” I murmured, kissing her deeply one last time before pulling away. “Stop, I can’t.” I kept one hand resting against her cheek as I looked at her apologetically and attempted to catch my breath. “I’m sorry, but this isn’t right.”  
The female stared back at me slightly wide-eyed and cheeks flushed. Even in this current state she seemed irresistible.  
“I’m such an ass,” I muttered to myself. My thoughts and feelings were torn between Brittany and the beautiful female still lying in my arms. “I can’t…can’t do this to you, Amy. I’m sorry.”  
“What are you talking about?” she wanted to know confused.  
I looked at her for a while, contemplating whether I should tell her the truth or not, and then said, “If you repeat what I’m about to tell you to anyone, I will strongly deny it, but… I’m not over Brittany.”  
Amy pulled back and stared at me in surprise.  
“Yeah, I know,” I chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of my neck. “I actually have feelings for her. But I like you, Amy, I really do, but until I’ve sorted out my shit with her, I don’t think we should start anything. I mean, I don’t want to lead you on or hurt you in any way, though that’s probably exactly what I’m doing already.”  
“Frank, stop,” she said quietly, shaking her head. “Don’t worry about it. I understand and I’ll be patient, but I’m not going to wait forever.”  
“I understand,” I nodded almost sadly, because in the end I’ll have to choose one of them meaning that I will inevitably lose one or the other and that was not a pleasant thought. It definitely wasn’t something I looked forward to.


End file.
